Intelsat 7. Artist's impression of an Intelsat 7 communications satellite in orbit. Six Intelsat 7 satellites have been built, placed into orbit either by US Atlas or European Ariane launchers in 1993-95. The 7-series was designed to cover the Pacific Basin, providing up to 90,000 voice channels and three TV broadcasts simultaneously. The satellites are in geostationary orbit, and have a design life of 15 years.