SES-6

SES-6 is a commercial geostationary communication satellite owned and operated by SES.

Constructed by EADS Astrium, it was launched on June 3, 2013 and carries 48 Ku-band and 43 C-band transponders.

Market

The SES-6 satellite replaces the aging NSS 806 (launched in February 1998 as Intelsat 806). It is nearly twice as large as NSS-806, with two C-band beams and three for the Ku-band. The C-band beams cover the east Atlantic (Europe, North Africa) and west Atlantic (USA, Mexico, South America). The Ku-band beams cover east Atlantic (Europe, Iceland, Greenland), west Atlantic (Greenland, east USA, east Canada) and Brazil.

In Ku-band, SES-6 will support DTH platforms, VSAT services and government digital inclusion programmes throughout Latin America. The C-band payload will offer 50% more C-band capacity for the cable community, and retain the capability to distribute content between the Americas and Europe on the same high powered beam.

Following the launch, SES announced a long-term capacity agreement to provide a new direct to home (DTH) platform in Brazil with Brazilian telecommunication group Oi, which would becomes the largest user of the new satellite.