Technician adjusts a thermal blanket on the DIRECTV 1-R satellite as it nears completion in the factory at Hughes Space and Communications Company (HSC) in El Segundo, Calif. The satellite, an HS 601HP model, carries 16 high-power Ku-band transponders. This will enable DIRECTV to expand its channel capacity and strangthen in-orbit redundancy when the satellite is collocated with DBS-2 and DBS-3 at 101 degrees West longitude. Launch is scheduled for fall 1999 on a Sea Launch vehicle. HSC and DIRECTV, Inc., are units of Hughes Electronics Corporation.