Galaxy IIIC, the seventh in the Boeing 702 series, will be the first Boeing 702 to carry Boeing's latest in solar array technology.

Galaxy IIIC is scheduled to launch at 3:39 p.m. PDT (6:39 p.m. EDT, 10:39 p.m. GMT) from the Equator on a Sea Launch rocket. The satellite will provide service to the United States and Latin America and will add 77 channels of transmission capabilities to PanAmSat Corp.'s fleet, one of the world's largest geostationary satellite systems.

The launch marks the 23rd satellite that Boeing has built for PanAmSat over the past two decades. Boeing Space and Communications (S&C), a unit of The Boeing Co., built the satellite.

"We have complete confidence in the quality and reliability of the Galaxy IIIC satellite," said Randy Brinkley, president of Boeing Satellite Systems, the satellite manufacturing arm of Boeing S&C. "We look forward to demonstrating the satellite's on-orbit performance, which will reassure our customers that the Boeing 702 is the world's top choice for reliability, flexibility, and the lowest-cost-per-transponder satellite service.

"The redesigned solar array is a 'tried and true' flat planar array that has served our customers well over the last 10 years on our Boeing 601 satellites," Brinkley added. "Besides the classic design, we have incorporated rigorous quality standards that are based on the `Boeing Best Practices' we have implemented over the last several months."

With a 15-year contract life, Galaxy IIIC will operate at both the C-band and Ku-band frequencies from its orbital position at 95 degrees West longitude. The wide coverage area provides PanAmSat with the flexibility to adjust its market coverage accordingly. The satellite carries 24 C-band transponders and 53 Ku-band transponders.

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