SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) has announced today that their new SES-9 spacecraft is entering commercial service.
SES-9 has successfully completed its testing and reached its orbital position at around 108.2 degrees East where it has joined SES-7 and will replace NSS-11.
Artistic rendition of the SES-9 satellite.
SES-9, built by Boeing Satellite Systems International, is the largest SES satellite to serve the Asia-Pacific region, with 57 high-power Ku-band transponders—equivalent to 81x36 MHz transponders, out of which 53 are incremental. The new spacecraft will provide significant expansion capacity to serve the fast-growing video and mobility sectors across Northeast Asia, South Asia, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The satellite will also be capable of supporting a range of Enterprise and Government applications.
SES-9 has already secured business in advance of the satellite’s entry in commercial service. SES will co-market SES-9 capacity with Indonesia’s largest satellite telecommunications services company, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, to the Indonesian market. In addition, Sky Cable, the largest cable television provider in the Philippines, signed a multi-year, multi-transponder agreement for broadcasting direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV channels. This week SES also partnered with Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., a worldwide leader in satellite networking technology, to launch the SES Enterprise+ Hybrid Broadband in Asia. This innovative, hybrid broadband solution will use capacity from SES-9.
The spacecraft was successfully launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on 4 March 2016. Since then, the satellite has used both its chemical and electric propulsion systems to reach its assigned geostationary orbit. The satellite’s platform and payload have since undergone extensive in-orbit tests.
Additionally, SES S.A. has engaged in a long-term partnership with Studiotech Poland, a leading audiovisual engineering company and manufacturer of digital broadcast solutions, to provide satellite capacity to the Polish public broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) at 23.5 degrees East.
Studiotech Poland, who recently won TVP’s public tender, will use satellite capacity from SES to provide for Polish broadcaster's Satellite News Gathering (SNG) needs.