Boeing to operate Hughes' satellites

Hughes Network Systems, a provider of satellite broadband Internet services, said Tuesday that Boeing Satellite Systems will operate and control its Spaceway satellites. Boeing will run the satellite network from its control center in Houston, as well as from teleport locations near Denver and Los Angeles. A teleport location, sometimes called an earth station, consists of one or more satellite dishes connected to earthbound telecommunications networks that send and receive information from the satellites. Financial terms of the long-term agreement were not disclosed. Boeing already manufactures satellites for Hughes. The deal extends the company's relationship with Hughes into the role of service provider. Sea Launch, another Boeing subsidiary, will launch the three Spaceway satellites into orbit, one of them intended as a spare. Hughes expects the network, which runs on Ka-band spectrum, to become operational in 2003 over North America.