SES-11/EchoStar 105 get to work
November 29, 2017
By Chris Forrester
A so-called ‘condominium’ dual-mission satellite owned by EchoStar and SES has reached its 105 degree West operating position, and is ‘open’ for business, says the two organisations.
EchoStar 105/SES-11 is a high-powered, hybrid Ku and C-band communications satellite for EchoStar and SES with a 24×36 Ku-band payload, marketed by EchoStar as EchoStar 105, and a 24×36 MHz C-band payload marketed by SES under the name SES-11. Built by Airbus Defence and Space, the satellite is based on the Eurostar E3000 platform.
EchoStar 105’s Ku-band capacity replaces the capacity that EchoStar previously offered via the AMC-15 satellite and includes seven transponders of incremental capacity, providing expanded coverage for customer applications including video distribution, data communications and backhaul services.
“EchoStar 105 provides coverage of the 50 U.S. states and offers increased reach to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean,” said Anders Johnson, chief strategy officer of EchoStar and president of EchoStar Satellite Services. “We are excited to be able to offer the tailored Ku-band capacity of this high-powered satellite to our current and prospective customers in the enterprise, media and broadcast, and U.S. government service provider markets.”
The EchoStar 105/SES-11 satellite was launched on October 11 at 6:53 PM EDT aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is the second time SES has launched on a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket, and is SES’s fourth launch with SpaceX. The high-powered communications satellite built by Airbus replaces C-band capacity for AMC-18 and Ku-band capacity for AMC-15 at the 105 degrees West orbital slot.
SES-11 is designed to accelerate the development of the US Prime video neighbourhood and the delivery of HD and ultra-HD channels. It offers comprehensive coverage over North America, including Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. The satellite’s C-band capacity is optimised for digital television delivery, and will join SES-1 and SES-3 at the centre of SES’s North American orbital arc which reaches more than 100 million TV homes and has 100 per cent penetration in the US.