Sea Launch Co. LLC said Nov. 15 it signed a firm launch contract with DirecTV Inc. for a mission scheduled for early 2007. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The DirecTV spacecraft is one of three Boeing 702 model Ka-band satellites the direct-to-home satellite television service provider ordered from Boeing Satellite Systems. The new satellite will deliver national high-definition programming and be capable of supporting spot beams carrying local high-definition broadcast channels in all 50 states.

This is the seventh launch contract Sea Launch has signed in 2005 and the fourth time DirecTV has contracted Sea Launch to deliver a payload to orbit.