On August 1, 2001,
JSAT Corporation announced an equal share
joint venture with
PanAmSat, called
Horizons Satellite. On September 4, 2001, it ordered from
Boeing its first satellite,
Horizons-1/
Galaxy 13. It was a spacecraft with 24
C band and 24
Ku band transponders. It had a 10 kW power generation capacity and 15 years of expected life. On the same day of the satellite order, Boeing disclosed that it had received a parallel contract from PanAmSat, where the latter had exercised an existing option to launch Horizons-1 from its
Sea Launch subsidiary. On October 22, 2002, JSAT and PanAmSat announced a joint sales agreement where JSAT's clients would gain access to
PAS 2 and
PAS 8, while PanAmSat's would get
JCSAT-2A and
JCSAT-3. A week later, on October 28, Horizons Satellites obtained permission to operate in Japan. Horizons-1 was successfully launched on October 1, 2003 aboard a
Zenit-3SL rocket from the
Ocean Odyssey platform in the Pacific. On June 27, 2005, JSAT and PanAmSat announced that they were renewing the partnership by ordering a second satellite,
Horizons-2. This Ku band satellite would be positioned on the 74°West that belonged to PanAmSat. On August 30, 2005,
Orbital Sciences announced that Horizons Satellite had ordered a small satellite based on the
STAR-2 platform, Horizons-2, for the PanAmSat licensed orbital slot at 74°West. It would carry 20 Ku band transponders, generate 3.5 kW of power, weight around and was expected to be launched in 2007. The August 2005 take over of PanAmSat by
Intelsat, did not diminished the relationship and, in fact, strengthened the alliance. On December 21, 2007, Horizons Satellite used an
Ariane 5 rocket to launch Horizons-2. And, outside of the Horizons Satellite, JCSAT and Intelsat launched the joint satellite
Intelsat 15/
JCSAT-85 on November 30, 2009 aboard a
Zenit-3SLB. On November 4, 2015, JSAT and Intelsat made a joined statement that they would add a new member to their Horizons joint venture. The satellite, called Horizons 3e, would be based on the Intelsat
EpicNG platform, featuring an optimized C band and high throughput Ku band payload it would offer mobility and broadband connectivity services in the Asia-Pacific region. It was expected to use the 169°East orbital slot and launch by the second half of 2018. This would be the fourth joint satellite, along with the other two Horizons Satellite spacecraft, Horizons-1 and Horizons-2 and the separately co-owned JCSAT-85/Intelsat 15. Since this would be an investment within Horizons Satellite, it would not be considered a capital expenditure of the parent companies. == Horizons Fleet ==