SES-6 Now Fully Operational

 

July 29, 2013

SES-6 satellite has successfully completed its extensive in-orbit testing and is now fully operational and in commercial service at the orbital position of 40.5 degrees West. The 53rd SES satellite was successfully launched on board an ILS Proton booster from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on June 4, 2013. 

SES-6 was built by EADS Astrium in Toulouse, France, based on the highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform. The satellite is equipped with 43 C-band and 48 Ku-band transponders. SES-6 had a launch mass of 6,100 kg, features a wingspan of 40m with its solar arrays deployed in orbit, and is designed for 13 kW of spacecraft power at the end of its 15-year design lifetime. The satellite has comprehensive coverage of North America, Latin America, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. 

SES-6 replaces SES' NSS-806 satellite at the prime orbital position of 40.5 degrees West, providing continuity of service and expansion capacity in the C-band for video neighbourhoods in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The largest Ku-band customer on SES-6 is Brazilian telecommunication group Oi. As a new anchor customer, Oi signed a significant long-term capacity agreement to provide Direct-to-Home (DTH) services in Brazil.