DirecTV

Satellite TV Home Page

DirecTV is digital-quality television. The programming is uplinked to a satellite then sent directly to the dish at your home. The picture and sound are much better than cable. The variety of programming is greater. DirecTV has over 225 channels with a choice of programming packages.

DirecTV is the nation's first high-power direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service. It began in 1994. There are now over 15 million customers. The DirecTV System is the fastest selling consumer electronics product ever. The equipment consists of an 18-inch dish, an integrated receiver decoder and a remote control.

DirecTV has two broadcast centers (one in Castle Rock, Colorado, and one in Los Angeles, California) that transmit the programming to the satellites.

The Satellites:

Hughes Electronics HS-601
DirecTV-1 at 110.0° West Longitude. Launched on December 17, 1993
DirecTV-2 at 100.8° WL - August 3, 1994
DirecTV-1R at 100.8° WL - October 10, 1999
DirecTV-4S at 101.2° WL - November 27, 2001

Space Systems/Loral LS-1300
DirecTV-5 at 72.5° WL - May 7, 2002
DirecTV-6 at 109.8° WL - March 8, 1997
DirecTV-7S at 119.0° WL - May 4, 2004
DirecTV-8 at 101.0° WL - May 22, 2005
DirecTV-9S at 101.1° WL - October 13, 2006

Boeing BSS-702
SPACEWAY-1 at 102.8° WL - April 26, 2005
SPACEWAY-2 at 99.2° WL - November 16, 2005
Scheduled in 2007
DirecTV-10 TBD
DirecTV-11 TBD
DirecTV-12 TBD

The satellites are in a geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. No adjustment of the dish is necessary to change programming.

The services described on this website are available in the United States only.