PanAmSat

The former PanAmSat Corporation founded in 1984 by Reynold (Rene) Anselmo, was a satellite service provider headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. It operated a fleet of communications satellites used by the entertainment industry, news agencies, internet service providers, government agencies, and telecommunication companies. Anselmo got the idea for PanAmSat from Martine Rothblatt, an independent communications lawyer in Washington, D.C., to whom he had turned to for advice regarding difficulties he was encountering in getting reasonably priced satellite transmission of his UHF-TV based Spanish International Network (SIN), with studios on 42nd Street in New York City. Rothblatt had written a business plan entitled PanAmSat for her MBA thesis at UCLA's Graduate School of Management and was seeking a financial backer. Anselmo partnered with Rothblatt on the PanAmSat project, with Anselmo providing financing and Rothblatt filing for approval from the Federal Communications Commission and lining up an initial satellite from RCA Astro-Electronics and a heavily discounted launch from Arianespace.