Galaxy 26 (a.k.a Intelsat 26), built by Space Systems/Loral, on June 29 had a power failure in one of its solar panels. It lost 15 kilowatts out of a possible 37 kilowatt capacity, which is important for charging the batteries. Also, there were multiple transponder failures. Some cable nets offloaded their feeds to backup satellites as to keep themselves on air in the event of total failure. The future operation of Galaxy 26 is still unknown.
Current clients include ABC, CBS, CNN and FOX. Fox News has moved operations to Galaxy 16 Transponders 7, 9, and 11, and to AMC 5 Transponder 4K. CBS has moved their main feeds on Galaxy 25, and will have Galaxy 28 carrying all secondary feeds, according to reports.
TVBR hears many syndicated programs came from Gal. 26–especially the HD feeds of Wheel and Jeopardy. Pathfire had feeds on Gal. 26 also.
Galaxy 26 has had its share of problems since its 1999 launch. It has lost a backup command and control receiver, the back up computer, and has completely shut off twice.
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