SES Americom said its AMC-12, which was launched on Feb. 3, successfully completed a full battery of in-orbit tests and is now being drifted into its 37.5? West orbital location. The satellite is scheduled to begin commercial service by April 8. The satellite, a high-powered C-band satellite with 72 transponders split organized into three regional beams, was built by Alcatel Space and is the first operating Spacebus 4000 model spacecraft.

“The in-orbit testing has been remarkably smooth and we have every confidence that for the next 15 years, AMC-12 will deliver the strongest available C-band signals into Africa, the Middle East and Europe and throughout the Americas, satisfying the needs of broadcasters, fixed and mobile data and telecommunications networks and ISPs,” Dany Harel, vice president of space systems and operations said in a prepared statement.”