Galaxy XI opens a new era in communications satellites, as the first HS 702 series satellite. Hughes built the satellite for PanAmSat Corporation to expand video and telecommunications services to North America and Brazil. The satellite was successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on Dec. 21, 1999. In October 2000, The Boeing Company acquired three units within Hughes Electronics Corporation: Hughes Space and Communications Company, Hughes Electron Dynamics, and Spectrolab, Inc., in addition to Hughes Electronics' interest in HRL, the company's primary research laboratory. The four are now part of Boeing's subsidiary, Boeing Satellite Systems, Inc.