ProtoStar
II
Acquisition
Closed:
Satellite
to
Be
Integrated
into
SES
WORLD
SKIES'
Satellite
Fleet
as
SES-7
5
May
2010
SES
WORLD
SKIES,
announced
that,
following
receipt
of
the
required
regulatory
approval,
SES
has
closed
its
acquisition
of
the
ProtoStar
II
satellite
and
is
now
preparing
to
integrate
it
into
its
global
fleet.
SES
was
the
successful
bidder
for
ProtoStar
II
during
a
public
auction
held
on
December
16th,
2009.
The
spacecraft,
launched
in
May
2009,
has
been
renamed
SES-7,
and
will
be
re-deployed
to
the
orbital
position
of
108.2
degrees
East
to
provide
incremental
capacity
in
South
Asia
and
the
Asia-Pacific
region.
At
108.2
degrees
East,
SES-7
will
be
co-positioned
with
NSS-11,
which
is
already
home
to a
thriving
neighborhood.
With
two
satellites
at
this
same
location,
SES
WORLD
SKIES
can
offer
in-orbit
redundancy
to
customers
whose
networks
require
additional
resilience.
With
its
high-power
Ku-band
payload
and
switchable
beams,
SES-7
offers
expansion
capacity
for
a
range
of
Direct-to-Home
(DTH)
and
enterprise
services
across
the
Asia-Pacific
region.
SES-7,
built
by
Boeing,
carries
22
physical
Ku-band
transponders
as
well
as
10
S-band
transponders.
The
S-band
payload
will
be
fully
utilized
by
MCI
Indovision,
the
market-leading
DTH
platform
operator
in
Indonesia,
which
has
an
option
to
fully
acquire
the
payload
for
the
15
year
expected
life
of
the
satellite.
SES
WORLD
SKIES
is
working
with
MCI
on
the
transition
of
SES-7
from
its
current
orbital
location
to
108.2
degrees
East.
Following
the
successful
launch
of
the
SES-1
satellite
on
April
24th,
2010,
SES-7
will
be
the
43rd
satellite
in
the
global
SES
fleet.
States
Rob
Bednarek,
President
and
CEO
of
SES
WORLD
SKIES:
“The
acquisition
of
SES-7
is
another
example
of
our
laser-like
focus
on
growing
new
markets
for
the
SES
group
and
our
customer-centric
approach.
Given
the
scarcity
of
capacity
and
spectrum
in
many
emerging
markets,
particularly
in
South
Asia,
SES
WORLD
SKIES
is
constantly
looking
for
innovative
ways
to
help
support
customers’
requirements
for
growth.”
