The Galaxy 376 satellites were built in the 1980s and 1990s by Hughes Space and Communications Company, incorporating new technologies as they became available. Originally ordered by Hughes Communications, Inc., the Galaxy fleet transferred to PanAmSat Corporation ownership in May 1997, when PanAmSat and Hughes Communications Galaxy merged. The new company is the world's largest private satellite owner/operator.

The spacecraft are used for general communications services, such as television relay, voice, and data. Galaxy I-R, V, and IX are dedicated to cable television transmission across the United States. The fleet's ground control station is in Long Beach, California, with telemetry and command terminals in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Fillmore, Calif.

The apogee motor, which placed the satellite in near-synchronous orbit above the equator, was a Thiokol Star-30 class solid propellant rocket motor.