Ciel II satellite successfully reaches orbit, gears up for DISH service

If there were any doubts about the purpose of the Ciel II satellite, it's safe to say those questions have been answered. According to a glowing release on International Launch Services' website, the latest bird to leave its hands has successfully reached space, and now it waits to "ultimately be moved to 129 degrees West longitude where it will deliver digital television services to Canada and the contiguous United States." Brian Neill, chairman of the Ciel Satellite Group, was quoted as saying that "now that the spacecraft has delivered an initial signal, Ciel, our founders, investors, and our customer, DISH Network, can look forward to Ciel II's operation early next year." No word on what exactly DISH will use this for "early next year," but it doesn't sound like we'll be waiting long to find out.

[Thanks, Joe]

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 11th 2008 11:11AM]

Voom can come back now, theres more bandwidth?

[Adam Miarka Posted Dec 11th 2008 11:15AM]

Hey...maybe it will actually bring local HD channels to Indianapolis... I can always hope, right?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 11th 2008 11:49AM]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Indianapolis get HD locals once Echostar XI goes live at the 110 slot.

(It really put us behind when AMC-14 didn't reach orbit.)

By the way, the following are listed as "Potential Local Launches for 2008":

Abilene, TX
Albany, NY
Chattanooga, TN
Fargo, ND
Ft. Myers, FL
Greenville, NC
Lansing, MI
Madison, WI
Sherman-Ada, TX-OK
South Bend, IN
Syracuse, NY
Waco, TX
Wichita Falls, TX
Wilkes Barre, PA

Those should be the next batch or two of HD locals.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 11th 2008 12:56PM]

That's the only reason I went with DirecTV instead of Dish. I can't believe Dish doesn't carry Indy locals in HD. I really wanted to check out Dish's HD DVR's too. :-(

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 11th 2008 5:04PM]

Main reason for this satellite is to replace the existing 129 satellite which has been failing for some time, causing poor reception and occasional drop outs of many HD channels for some time. It will also of course add new capacity to the system. This is a long time coming.