AMC-12 Satellite Arrives in Kazakhstan for Feb. 3 Launch

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 12/Satnews Daily/ — The Americom-12 (AMC-12) satellite, formerly known as WorldSat-2, of SES Americom, an SES Global Co. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchanges: SESG), has been delivered to Baikonur, Kazakhstan to prepare the spacecraft for its scheduled Proton/Breeze M launch on February 3, SES Americom said Tuesday.

The Spacebus 4000 spacecraft, the first of this generation platform, was built by Alcatel Space and is being launched by International Launch Services (ILS) for service at the 37.5 degrees West longitude orbital position.

SES Americom said the spacecraft was packed along with an array of testing equipment and systems into nine crates weighing more than 85 metric tons and then loaded onto a special purpose Antonov cargo plane. The flight left Nice, France on December 29, 2004 and arrived the following day.

The plane's cargo was unloaded and the combined satellite program teams from Americom and Alcatel immediately began a long sequence of pre-launch preparations. These preparations include launch site testing, spacecraft fueling, integrating the satellite into the fairing, mating the fairing with the Proton/Breeze M vehicle, a final set of tests, and roll-out of the rocket to the launch pad.

AMC-12 is a high-powered C-band satellite and has 72 transponders organized into three regional beams: North America, South America and Europe/MiddleEast/Africa. The satellite will support a wide range of applications, from TV broadcasting to high-speed internet connections, to facilitating reception and higher data throughput to smaller C-band antennas. Its coverage will reach from the U.S. to the eastern reaches of the Mediterranean and from Cape Town, South Africa to Lima, Peru.

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