SES Contracts
Airbus Defence and
Space to Manufacture
SES-12
July 17, 2014
SES S.A. and Airbus
Defence and Space
announced that SES
has selected Airbus
Defence and Space to
build a new hybrid
communications
satellite, SES-12,
to serve the fast
growing DTH, Data,
Mobility and
Government markets
in Asia.
The new satellite
will expand SES’s
capabilities to
provide
direct-to-home (DTH)
broadcasting, VSAT,
Mobility and High
Throughput Satellite
(HTS) data
connectivity
services in the
Asia-Pacific region,
including rapidly
growing markets such
as India and
Indonesia.
The spacecraft will
be positioned at the
well-established SES
orbital slot of 95
degrees East,
providing
incremental as well
as replacement
capacity with
excellent view
angles across the
Asia-Pacific region.
SES-12 will replace
SES’s existing NSS-6
satellite and will
be co-located with
SES-8. Today, SES
serves close to 20
million DTH
households in India
and Indochina from
this orbital slot.
SES-12 will be built
by Airbus Defence
and Space based on
the highly reliable
Eurostar E3000
platform. The
satellite is
designed to operate
for 15 years, with a
payload comprised of
68 high-power
physical Ku-band
transponders and 8
physical Ka-band
transponders. The
spacecraft will be
equipped with an
electric plasma
propulsion system
for orbit raising
and on-orbit
manoeuvres.
The payload of the
hybrid SES-12
satellite consists
of two distinct but
complementary
missions: first,
traditional wide
beam coverage, and
second, a
high-powered Ku-band
multi spot beam
payload (HTS).
The traditional
wide-beam mission
consists of 54 (36
MHz equivalent)
transponders that
will provide
state-of-the-art
replacement and
growth capacity for
SES’s existing DTH,
Government and VSAT
customers allowing
for a seamless
transition from
NSS-6 to SES-12. In
addition, the design
provides incremental
growth capacity to
support new DTH
platforms and other
services targeting
the Asia-Pacific
region.
The second mission
consists of 70
Ku-band spot beams
and 11 Ka-band spot
beams delivering
over 14 GHz for
VSAT, Enterprise,
Mobility and
Government
applications. This
mission also
includes a Digital
Transparent
Processor (DTP)
which provides
anti-jamming
capabilities as well
as increased payload
flexibility in order
to provide
customized bandwidth
solutions to SES
customers.
SES-12 is the 11th
spacecraft that SES
has ordered from
Airbus Defence and
Space. Financial
details are not
being disclosed. A
launch vehicle for
SES-12 will be
announced at a later
stage.
Martin Halliwell,
Chief Technology
Officer of SES,
states, “We look
forward to working
again with Airbus
Defence and Space on
this important
addition to our
global fleet. SES-12
will greatly expand
our capacity over
Asia and is fully in
line with our
capital expenditure
plan. Through its
unique hybrid
DTH/HTS design,
SES-12 will continue
to support our
growing DTH
platforms and
provide a new, lower
cost HTS product,
further enhancing
our customer’s
options for growth.”
