SES New Skies NSS-9 satellite arrives in Kourou for February 12 launch on Ariane-5

Details: Category: Satellite Networks; 30 January 2009; 6195 views

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NSS-9

SES New Skies has announced that its NSS-9 satellite has safely arrived at the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, onboard an Antonov cargo plane. The NSS-9 spacecraft, manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation, will now be readied for launch onboard an Ariane 5 booster, scheduled for take off on February 12, 2009. The launch window for NSS-9 onboard Ariane 5 opens at 22:09 GMT time...

The NSS-9 spacecraft will be positioned at the orbital location of 183 degrees East, carries 44 active C-band transponders and features three beams that can interconnect on a transponder-by-transponder basis, namely a global beam providing coverage of the entire earth visible from 183 degrees East, a West Hemi beam (covering Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, China, Korea and the Pacific Islands) and an East Hemi beam (providing coverage and connectivity to the USA, Hawaii and Polynesia).

The NSS-9 satellite is specified for a minimum service life of 15 years. Based on Orbital's Star 2 satellite bus, the spacecraft has a launch mass of 2230 kg, a payload power of 2.3 kW, and features command encryption as well as key redundant onboard systems to provide maximum operational security.

Rob Bednarek, President and CEO of SES Americom New Skies, states: "NSS-9 is an important spacecraft in our strategy going forward. The new satellite will allow us to provide seamless continuity at 183 degrees East for a wide range of customers including broadcasters, government users, carriers across the Pacific islands and from the maritime industry."

"NSS-9 will free up the NSS-5 satellite to be redeployed to a new orbital location and new missions," said Martin Halliwell, President of SES Enginering. "SES looks forward to another Ariane-5 success as the combined teams of Arianespace, Orbital Sciences and SES go through the NSS-9 launch count down over the next few weeks."

* SES New Skies offers satellite communication services to a range of customers including telecommunications providers, broadcasters, corporations and governments around the world. SES New Skies has a global fleet of seven satellites in orbit, with three additional spacecraft under construction (NSS-9, NSS-12 and NSS-14) and ground facilities around the world. Headquartered in The Hague, the company has offices in Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington DC. In addition to SES New Skies, SES wholly owns the satellite operators SES Astra in Europe and SES Americom in North America, 90% of SES Sirius in Europe, and strategic participations in Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in Mexico. SES provides satellite communications solutions via a global fleet of 39 satellites in 26 orbital locations.

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