SES has selected Airbus Defence and Space, formerly known as Astrium, to build its latest communications satellite, SES-10.
The satellite will significantly grow SES’s capacity to serve markets in Latin America and Caribbean through high power beams tailored to provide DTH broadcasting, enterprise and broadband connectivity services in the entire region.
It will be positioned at the 67 degrees West orbital position, pursuant to an agreement between the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) and SES, which provides for use of the Andean Community’s Simon Bolivar 2 satellite network.
SES-10 is slated for launch on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. With 50 high-power Ku-band transponders, it will provide replacement capacity for the current satellites, AMC-3 and AMC-4, as well as incremental capacity at the 67 degrees West slot.
SES has been providing key services to customers in the region from this orbital slot since 2010.
SES-10 will be built by Airbus Defence and Space based on its highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform.
It will be the 10th spacecraft ordered by SES from the company.
The satellite, with an expected launch mass of about 5,300kg on Falcon 9, is designed to operate for 15 years in geosynchronous orbit.
Romain Bausch, president and CEO of SES, commented: “We are pleased to work once again with our longstanding supplier Airbus Defence and Space on the SES-10 mission. SES-10 will provide our customers in Latin America with new, high power satellite capacity for multiple applications at an established orbital slot. We are delighted to broaden our partnership with the Andean Community with a satellite built specifically for use in the Simon Bolivar 2 satellite network, offering opportunities for expanded commercial, economic and social benefits for the Andean region.”
François Auque, Head of Space Systems, added: “This new contract is a significant win for Airbus Defence and Space and further reinforces our long-standing relationship with SES, which has today asked us to build their 10th Eurostar satellite.
“This order also demonstrates our customers’ faith in our electrical propulsion technology for station-keeping, a technology that we are among the few in the world to be able to demonstrate in orbit, something we have now been doing for 10 years.”