A satellite that will deliver television, data and telecommunications services to Hawai'i as well as Intelsat Ltd. customers in North America and Puerto Rico was successfully launched into a geosynchronous orbit today.

The Galaxy 18 satellite built by Space Systems/Loral joined 16 other satellites that cover North America, Central America and the Caribbean for Intelsat. The satellite has 24 C- and 24 Ku-band transponders.