AMC-9 Satellite Settles Into Geostationary Orbit
On June 7, a Proton K rocket successfully placed SES Americom‘s AMC-9 satellite into geostationary orbit at 85 degrees West Longitude. The launch occurred at 4:15 a.m. local time (22:15 June 6 GMT, 6:15 p.m. June 6 EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan and was performed by the U.S.-Russian joint venture International Launch Services (ILS).
The hybrid spacecraft, manufactured by France’s Alcatel Space, is based on a Spacebus 3000B3 platform and weighs 4,100 kilograms. It has a C-band payload with 24 transponders and a Ku-band payload with 24 transponders. Pending Federal Communications Commission approval, the spacecraft will provide service throughout the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.
AMC-9 will be the 16th satellite in the SES Americom fleet. ILS is scheduled to launch three more AMC satellites on either Proton or Atlas rockets this year and next; it has recently acquired a fourth, not yet identified, AMC mission.