Space Systems/Loral
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Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is the wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications. It was acquired in 1990 for $715 million by Loral Corp. from Ford Motor Company as the Space Systems Division of Ford Aerospace. The company was founded as the Western Development Laboratories (WDL) of Philco (Philco-Ford since 1966).
SS/L designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial customers. Its products include high-powered direct-to-home broadcast satellites, commercial weather satellites, digital audio radio satellites and spot-beam satellites for data networking applications.
SS/L's customers include DirecTV, EchoStar, Globalstar, Intelsat, Japan MTSAT, JSC Gascom, Loral Skynet, NASA/NOAA (GOES), Optus, PanAmSat, Sirius Satellite Radio, and XM Satellite Radio.
SS/L has a history of technical innovation that includes the first three-axis spin stabilized satellite, which has since become an industry standard for large communications satellites.[citation needed] In 1960 the Courier 1B, built by SS/L (then Philco), became the world's first active repeater satellite.
SS/L has recently pioneered research in electric propulsion systems, lithium-ion power systems and the use of advanced composites on commercial satellites, which permit significant increases in the size and power of a satellite’s payload and extends the satellite’s on-orbit lifetime. SS/L also has developed new service-enhancing technologies such as super power systems for direct-to-user applications and ground-based beam forming, a technology that uses both satellite and terrestrial assets to provide mobile users with increased coverage and capacity capabilities.
Space Systems/Loral’s major competitors are Boeing Satellite Systems, Lockheed Martin, Alcatel, and EADS Astrium.
