PanAmSat was originally conceived of as a low-cost, high performance, means for providing satellite services between the U.S. and Latin America. The company quickly evolved to become a worldwide competitive alternative to Intelsat. The current system consists of a single satellite providing Cand Ku-band services for the United States, Latin America, and Europe since 1988. This system will be expanded, beginning in 1994, with the launch of the first of three additional satellites, to provide communications services on a global scale. This paper describes the present system, services provided, and procurement of the new satellites.