EchoStar XIV

EchoStar XIV is an American geostationary communications satellite which is operated by EchoStar. It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 119° West, from where it is used to provide high-definition television direct broadcasting services to the continental United States for Dish Network.

EchoStar XIV was built by Space Systems/Loral, and is based on the LS-1300 satellite bus. It is equipped with 103 J band (IEEE Ku band) transponders, and at launch it had a mass of 6384 kg, with an expected operational lifespan of around 15 years.

The launch of EchoStar XIV was conducted by International Launch Services, using a Proton-M carrier rocket with a Briz-M upper stage. The launch occurred from Site 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, at 18:26:57 UTC on 20 March 2010. The launch successfully placed EchoStar XIV into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Following separation from the rocket, it manoeuvered into a geostationary orbit with a perigee of 35785 km and an apogee of 35789 km.