In addition, the digital processor flexibly forms and switches many thousands of user channels simultaneously. This gives Thuraya unprecedented ability to meet ever-changing market demands. The spot beams can be redirected on-orbit, wherever needed from big cities to rural areas and even at sea. Thuraya has the capacity for 13,750 simultaneous calls. Thuraya-1 will be positioned at 44 degrees East longitude, with a contracted life of 12 years in geosynchronous orbit.
Power is derived from two wings of panels, each with dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells.
BSS is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites, and is also a major provider of space systems, satellites, and payloads for national defense, science and environmental applications. The company was formed in October 2000 when Boeing acquired the Hughes Electronics satellite manufacturing companies, which included Hughes Space and Communications Company, Hughes Electron Dynamics, Spectrolab, Inc., and Hughes Electronics' share of the HRL research facilities in Malibu, California. The Boeing Company, headquartered in Seattle, is the largest aerospace company in the world and the United States' leading exporter. It is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft, and the largest NASA contractor. The company's capabilities in aerospace also include rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, rocket engines, launch vehicles, and advanced information and communication systems.