Boeing Completes World's First All-Electric Propulsion Satellites

By Doug Lung
published

Boeing announced it has completed the world's first all-electric propulsion satellites.

Mark Spiwak, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, said, “We are the first aerospace company to develop this highly efficient and flexible all-electric satellite, and we completed the first two 702SPs less than three years after contract award. With more than 210,000 hours of on-orbit experience with electric propulsion, we recognized that this highly efficient, lighter weight propulsion system would translate into cost savings for our customers.”

While electric propulsion has been used for many years for basic station keeping, the announcement implies these Boeing 702SP satellites will use only electric propulsion for placement into the final geostationary orbital location after launch. Two Boeing 702SP satellites, ABS-3A for Bermuda-based ABS and EUTELSAT 115 West B for Paris-based Eutelsat, will be launched next month. Patented Boeing technology allows two all-electric satellites to be stacked and launched together.

For additional information, see Boeing's 702SP Fact sheet. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) has a web page with graphics and a good explanation of Electric (Ion) Propulsion. That page was created by Dennis Ward in 2000.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.