Intelsat 31 Launched

Intelsat 31, which will provide direct-to-home service, launched Thursday, the company said in a news release. It said the Ku- and C-band satellite will provide redundancy to DirecTV's Latin American distribution. The satellite will collocate with Intelsat 30 at 96 degrees west and is expected to have a service life of more than 15 years, the company said.