DirecTV satellites successfully in orbit

French space company Arianespace has successfully launched and put into orbit two satellites for DTH provider DirecTV designed to boost coverage and capacity in the US and Latin America.

The DirecTV-15 satellite for the US and SKY México's SKY México-1 were launched on the back of the Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana, the company said in a press release.

DirecTV-15 was built by Airbus Defence and Space and will provide new HD and 4K UHD broadcast services to the US, including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

Sky Mexico-1 will offer HD TV broadcasting services to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Orbital ATK built the satellite in 20 months, four months ahead of schedule.

DirecTV is the leading satellite TV provider in Latin America and, through its DirecTV Sports division, it currently holds the rights to broadcast the Copa America soccer tournament that begins next month.

DirecTV Latin America (DTVLA) owns 93% of Sky Brasil, 41% of Sky Mexico and 100% of PanAmericana, which covers most of the remaining countries in the region.

Sky Mexico , whose results are not consolidated by DTVLA, had approximately 6.77mn subscribers as of March 31, 2015, bringing the total subscribers in the region to 19.46mn.

The company was acquired by AT&T last year and the deal is still in the process of regulatory approval.

Mexico's Mexsat satellite program suffered a blow last week when its Centenario satellite crashed in Kazakhstan.