The Galaxy series is a family of communications satellites originally developed and operated by Hughes Communications . It has since merged with PanAmSat and is now owned and operated by Intelsat . As one of the earliest geostationary satellites , Galaxy 1 was launched on 28 June 1983. The latest one, Galaxy 37, was launched on 3 August 2023.
Galaxy Manufacturer Hughes Aircraft Company ,Boeing Satellite Systems ,Orbital Sciences Corporation ,Space Systems/Loral ,Alcatel Alenia ,Northrop Grumman Country of origin United States Operator INTELSAT Applications Communications
Bus HS-376 , HS-601 , BSS-702 ,STAR-2 , SSL 1300 , GEOStar-3 Regime Geostationary orbit
Status In service Launched 39 Operational 21 Retired 14 Failed 3 Maiden launch 28 June 1983 Last launch 3 August 2023
Satellite
Manufacturer
Launch Vehicle
Launch Date
Launch Site
State
Orbital position
Notes
Galaxy 1
Hughes Aircraft Company
Delta (3920)
28 June 1983
Cape Canaveral , LC-17B
Retired on 1 May 1994
141.0° West
Galaxy 1R
Hughes Aircraft Company
Atlas I
22 August 1992
Cape Canaveral , LC-36B
Launch failure
—
Galaxy 1R2 Hughes Aircraft Company
Delta II (7925-8)
19 February 1994
Cape Canaveral , LC-17B
Retired on 7 March 2006
105.0° West
Also called Galaxy 1RR
Galaxy 2
Hughes Aircraft Company
Delta (3920)
22 September 1983
Cape Canaveral , LC-17A
Retired in May 1994
43.0° West
Galaxy 3
Hughes Aircraft Company
Delta (3920)
21 September 1984
Cape Canaveral , LC-17B
Retired in October 1995
38.0° West
Galaxy 3R
Hughes Aircraft Company
Atlas 2A
15 December 1995
Cape Canaveral , LC-36A
Failed in orbit in March 2006
129.0° West
Galaxy 3C
Hughes Aircraft Company
Zenit-3SL
15 June 2002
Sea Launch
Active
95.0° West
Galaxy 4
Hughes Aircraft Company
Ariane 42P+
25 June 1993
Kourou , ELA-2
Failed in orbit in May 1998
78.0° East
Galaxy 4R
Hughes Aircraft Company
Ariane 42L
19 April 2000
Kourou , ELA-2
Retired in July 2006
164.0° East
Galaxy 5
Hughes Aircraft Company
Atlas I
14 March 1992
Cape Canaveral , LC-36B
Retired in January 2005
176.0° East
Galaxy 6
Hughes Aircraft Company
Ariane 4L
12 October 1990
Kourou , ELA-2
Retired in February 2003
145.0° West
Galaxy 7
Hughes Aircraft Company
Ariane 42P+
28 October 1992
Kourou , ELA-2
Failure in orbit in November 2000
96.0° West
Galaxy 8i
Hughes Aircraft Company
Atlas 2AS
8 December 1997
Cape Canaveral , LC-36B
Retired in October 2002
30.0° East
Galaxy 8iR
Hughes Aircraft Company
Zenit-3SL
—
—
—
—
Cancelled[ 1]
Galaxy 9
Hughes Aircraft Company
Delta II (7925)
23 May 1996
Cape Canaveral , LC-17B
Retired
176.0° West
Galaxy 10
Hughes Aircraft Company
Delta III 8930
27 August 1998
Cape Canaveral , LC-17B
Launch failure
—
Galaxy 10R
Hughes Aircraft Company
Ariane 42L
25 January 2000
Kourou , ELA-2
Retired in June 2008
175.0° West
Galaxy 11
Hughes Aircraft Company
Ariane 44L
22 December 1999
Kourou , ELA-2
Active
44.0° East
Galaxy 12
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Ariane 5 G
9 April 2003
Kourou , ELA-3
Active
129.0° West
With INSAT-3A
Galaxy 13
Hughes Aircraft Company
Zenit-3SL
1 October 2003
Sea Launch
Active
127.0° West
Horizons-1
Galaxy 14
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Soyuz-FG
13 August 2005
Baikonur , Site 31/6
Active
125.0° West
Galaxy 15
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Ariane 5 GS
13 October 2005
Kourou , ELA-3
Active (failure in orbit in April 2010, resolved in 2011)
133.0° West
Launched join with Syracuse 3A
Galaxy 16
Space Systems/Loral
Zenit-3SL
18 June 2006
Sea Launch
Active
99.0° West
Galaxy 17
Alcatel Alenia Space
Ariane 5 ECA
4 May 2007
Kourou , ELA-3
Active
91.0° West
Launched with Astra 1L
Galaxy 18
Space Systems/Loral
Zenit-3SL
21 May 2008
Sea Launch
Active
123.0° West
Galaxy 19
Space Systems/Loral
Zenit-3SL
24 September 2008
Sea Launch
Active
97.0° West
Ex-Intelsat Americas 9 (IA 9)
Galaxy 23
Space Systems/Loral
Zenit-3SL
8 August 2003
Sea Launch
Active
121.0° West
Ex-Telstar 13
Galaxy 25
Space Systems/Loral
Proton-K
24 May 1997
Baikonur , Site 81/23
Active
93.0° West
Ex-Telstar 5
Galaxy 26
Space Systems/Loral
Proton-K
15 February 1999
Baikonur , Site 81/23
Retired on 7 June 2014
31.0° West
Ex-Telstar 6
Galaxy 27
Space Systems/Loral
Ariane 4
25 September 1999
Kourou , ELA-2
Active
109.0° East
Ex-Telstar 7
Galaxy 28
Space Systems/Loral
Zenit-3SL
23 June 2005
Sea Launch ,Pacific Ocean
Active
89.0° West
Ex-Intelsat Americas 8 (IA 8)
Galaxy 30
Northrop Grumman
Ariane 5 ECA
15 August 2020
Kourou , ELA-3
Active
125.0° West
Launched with MEV-2 and BSAT-4b
Galaxy 31
Maxar Technologies
Falcon 9 Block 5
12 November 2022
Cape Canaveral , SLC-40
Active
121.0° West
Launched with Galaxy 32
Galaxy 32
Maxar Technologies
Falcon 9 Block 5
12 November 2022
Cape Canaveral , SLC-40
Active
91.0° West
Launched with Galaxy 31
Galaxy 33
Northrop Grumman
Falcon 9 Block 5
8 October 2022
Cape Canaveral , SLC-40
Active
133.0° West
Launched with Galaxy 34
Galaxy 34
Northrop Grumman
Falcon 9 Block 5
8 October 2022
Cape Canaveral , SLC-40
Active
129.0° West
Launched with Galaxy 33
Galaxy 35
Maxar Technologies
Ariane 5 ECA
13 December 2022
Kourou , ELA-3
Active
95.0° West
Launched with Galaxy 36 and MTG-I1
Galaxy 36
Maxar Technologies
Ariane 5 ECA
13 December 2022
Kourou , ELA-3
Active
89.0° West
Launched with Galaxy 35 and MTG-I1
Galaxy 37
Maxar Technologies
Falcon 9 Block 5
3 August 2023
Cape Canaveral , SLC-40
Active
127.0° West
Also known as Horizons-4
^ On 15 November 2002, PanAmSat terminated its contract with Boeing Satellite Systems for the Galaxy 8iR satellite that was almost completed, claiming that Boeing did not comply with the terms of the contract, and requested US$72 million from Boeing to repay previous advances and other costs. The satellite was later converted to the ProtoStar 2 satellite, which was released in 2009, and was acquired that same year by SES which renamed it to SES-7 .
