NASA astronaut and Expedition 51 commander Peggy Whitson. Photo: NASA.

Intelsat announced that as a result of its partnership with Encompass Digital Media, NASA TV became the first linear Ultra-High Definition (UHD) channel available on Intelsat’s system for Latin American cable operators. NASA TV provides coverage of NASA missions, launches, news conferences and special events.

NASA TV, already using Galaxy 13 for North America distribution, is the newest addition to Intelsat’s four satellite Latin America cable distribution neighborhood, which according to the company currently delivers 77 of the 100 most watched channels in the region. The UHD channel is hosted on Intelsat 14 located at 315 degrees east.

Intelsat also announced that Starz has extended its commitment for distribution services on the Intelsat Galaxy satellites. Under the agreement, Intelsat will provide a combination of broadcast and IntelsatOne services for Starz, which currently distributes 49 channels/feeds on the Intelsat fleet. This includes content distribution via the Intelsat Galaxy 13, Galaxy 14 and Galaxy 15 satellites. Intelsat will also provide disaster recovery services through a secondary uplink chain from Intelsat’s teleport in Castle Rock, Colorado.