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EchoStar VIII comming Down

EchoStar revealed in its 10-Q filing this week an anomaly aboard EchoStar VIII, one of the company's newer satellites located at 110 degrees that launched in August 2002.

The company said that in June the satellite experienced an anomaly that impacted operation of a primary gyroscope. A spare gyroscope has been switched in and is performing nominally, EchoStar said. Also, a previous anomaly has resulted in certain gyroscopes being utilized for periods of time in excess of their originally qualified limits in order to maintain nominal spacecraft operations and pointing, the company reported.

EchoStar VIII was originally configured with three primary and one spare gyroscope. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the anomaly and develop procedures for continued spacecraft operation in the event of future gyroscope anomalies, the company said.

EchoStar said it uses EchoStar VIII, built by Space Systems Loral, to provide local channels to more than 40 markets. In the event the satellite experiences a total or substantial failure, EchoStar could transfer many, but not all channels, to other in-orbit satellites, the company said.

It's routine for EchoStar and other companies to report satellite anomalies in Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and other EchoStar satellites have been operating despite anomalies that have surfaced during their time in orbit.
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