Article Posted on : - May 19, 2010

Astrium File Photo.

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY (BNS): SES WORLD SKIES on Tuesday announced that it has signed an agreement with Astrium, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS, for the procurement of a new satellite to be named SES-6.

According to a news report by the EADS Astrium, SES-6 will offer 50 percent more C-Band capacity for the cable community, and retain the unique capability to distribute content between the Americas and Europe on the same high powered beam.

In addition, SES-6 will offer a substantial upgrade to Ku-Band capacity in the region with dedicated high power beams over Brazil, South cone, the Andean region, North America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, while also offering an innovative payload to support mobile maritime and aeronautical services on the highly demanded routes from North America, the Gulf of Mexico, across the north Atlantic and to Europe.

The deployment of SES-6 to 319.5 degrees east will thus enhance a core SES video neighbourhood.

"Astrium was able to offer an innovative satellite design providing us the capability to deploy capacity flexibly to the markets where we see demand developing over time," said Robert Bednarek, President and CEO of SES WORLD SKIES, as per the report.

SES-6 will be built on a Eurostar E3000 platform, the latest version of Astrium’s Eurostar series.

The 6000 kilogram satellite is expected to be launched as early as 2013 and will have a design life of 15 years.