SES-6

Spacecraft nº:

Netherlands spacecraft nº: 10

Launch data: Designation  39172 / 13026A Launch date  03 June 2013 - 09:18 UT (5:18 a.m. EDT) Launch site  Baik, LC-200/39 Launch vehicle  Proton-M Briz-M Mission  Communication Geostationary orbit: Perigee / Apogee  35784 x 35805 km Eccentricity   Inclination  0.0 deg Period  1436.1 min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• SES World Skies ordered in May 2010 the SES 6 hybrid satellite from EADS Astrium for delivery in 2013. It will replace the aging NSS 806 satellite
• SES-6 will offer 50 percent more C-Band capacity for the cable community, and retain the unique capability to distribute content between the Americas and Europe on the same high powered beam. In addition SES-6 will offer a substantial upgrade to Ku-Band capacity in the region with dedicated high power beams over Brazil, South cone, the Andean region, North America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, while also offering an innovative payload to support mobile maritime and aeronautical services on the highly demanded routes from North America, the Gulf of Mexico, across the north Atlantic and to Europe.
• SES-6 will be used to replace the aging NSS 806 spacecraft at 40.5 degrees West longitude. Originally launched by an Atlas 2AS rocket in February 1998 under the name Intelsat 806, this particular satellite is being targeted for replacement by SES 6 to significantly expand capacity over North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Atlantic Ocean region. The craft's C-band package adds high-power capacity to cable TV distributors in Americas and Europe to relay more channels. The Ku-band transponders will be used for direct-to-home services and digital growth across Latin America for Spanish and Portuguese speaking customers. The payload also supports aeronautical and maritime mobility services over the Atlantic.
• SES 6 becomes the 53rd satellite in the global SES fleet.

Mission details:

• A Proton was launched from Baykonur on Jun 3 carrying the SES-6 satellite. The Briz-M stage made five burns from -496 x 171 km x 51.5 deg to 173 x 173 km x 51.5 deg, 295 x 6000 km x 51.0 deg, 360 x 14911 km x 50.8 deg, 475 x 65044 km x 50.5 deg, and finally to a 4461 x 65024 km x 26.4 deg supersynchronous transfer orbit.
• The lower three stages of the Khrunichev-built Proton stages performed as planned, leaving the combined upper stage and the 13,450-pound payload on a suborbital trajectory. Within 16 minutes of liftoff, the Breeze M had finished conducting its first firing to achieve a temporary parking orbit around Earth at an altitude of approximately 107 miles, inclined 51.5 degrees.
• The next Breeze burn about two hours into the mission lasted nearly 20 minutes to raise one side of the orbit to nearly 3,730 miles. A pair of firings, separated briefly by jettisoning the now-emptied donut-shaped auxiliary fuel tank from the stage, occurred four-and-a-half hours after launch to further raise the apogee to a supersynchronous height of 40,415 miles.
• Then began a 9-hour coast through space before a fifth and final boost was delivered to raise the orbit's low point and reduce the inclination before deploying the SES spacecraft into an orbit with a targeted apogee of 40,390 miles, perigee of 2,785 miles and inclination of 26.3 degrees.
• Spacecraft separation came at 0049 UT (8:49 p.m. EDT) on June 4, some 15 hours and 31 minutes after liftoff.

Satellite tracking: