It is positioned in geostationary orbit, and will be located at a longitude of 61.5° West, from where it is intended to provide direct broadcasting of high-definition television services to the United States for Dish Network.

The launch occurred on 20 November 2012, 18:31 UTC from Site 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

[3][4] The arts organization Creative Time launched an archival disc created by artist Trevor Paglen called The Last Pictures into orbit on EchoStar XVI.

Made of ultra-archival materials, the disc is expected to orbit the planet Earth for millions of years and possibly up to several billion years affixed to the exterior of the communications satellite if left untouched.

The silicon wafer disc, protected by a gold-plated aluminum cover bolted to the satellite's exterior, contains one hundred black-and-white photographs selected to represent the artist's take on modern human history.