What are DISH / Echostar's plans for launching new satellites?

[rocatman]

Echostar XVI, last I read press reports has completed construction and testing and is being, if not already, delivered for launch for what was supposed to be a March launch date, but these launch dates can be pushed back for a variety of reasons, but the bird should go up--assuming no problems--no later than the 2nd quarter of this year for the 61.5 slot. I do believe another bird is in construction from my memory of press reports that I termed on order, and I believe Dish/Echo have intentions of possibly another order or possibly try to re-purpose Echo XII, unless I missed something and they either sold it or did whatever with it. Some one here might know.

Everything I have heard about a launch date for the E-16 satellite has been for 2012 but it would be great for Dish is they were able to launch it this year. I have a great deal of doubts about E-16 being launched in the next couple of months because nothing has been filed on it at the FCC and other internet sites that keep up on future launches have nothing on their schedules for it. I was speculating that E-16 would be launched by SeaLaunch based on some sketchy information from another website. I could see Dish using the E-12 satellite elsewhere besides 61.5 W or as a CONUS only satellite because of the number of uplink sites needed to use its spotbeams.

 

[mike123abc]

Dish's number one concern right now is the roll out of all the secondary locals in LiL HD markets. They have a deadline by 2013 to get it done. It sounds like a long ways away, but since satellite building and launching is a many year process, this will be their focus. With added spot capacity on 61.5 and a new spot satellite for 77 they will have the eastern markets covered. The EA is the hard one since so many DMAs are packed so close together it takes a lot of spot capacity to cover them all.

National HD is going to take a back seat to locals for the next 2 years. WA conversion to 8PSK would help them the most to free up capacity since they need matching East/West capacity for nationals. WA is not getting any satellite soon, so the capacity is fixed right now for nationals.