AMC-16 Launched

[nitstalker]

Atlas 5 rocket launches broadcast satellite
AMC-16 to provide direct-to-home video and broadband services

The Associated Press
Updated: 12:57 p.m. ET Dec. 17, 2004


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - An Atlas 5 rocket blasted off just after dawn Friday carrying a broadcast communications satellite designed to provide subscribers with direct-to-home video and broadband services.

It was the fourth launch of an Atlas 5, the newest rocket in Lockheed Martin’s stable. The Atlas 5 replaces the Atlas 2, which is retired, as well as the Atlas 3, the last of which is scheduled to lift off early next year.

The 196-foot-tall (60-meter-tall) rocket, the first of which flew in 2002, was developed as part of an Air Force program to provide access to space for military missions. Each of the first four launches, however, has been commercial.

The AMC-16 satellite that rode the rocket into space will provide direct-to-home video and broadband services to subscribers across the continental U.S. and Hawaii. The Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft has a life expectancy of 15 years.

Both Lockheed Martin and SES Americom officials refused to disclose the cost of the mission, but a similar mission last year was reported to have cost roughly $250 million.

© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[nitstalker]

News Release From SES Americom

AMC-16 Successfully Launched From Cape Canaveral

Atlas V Performs Flawlessly


December 17, 2004 – Princeton, NJ & Cape Canaveral, FL – Against the pre-dawn sky from Cape Canaveral, the AMERICOM-16 (AMC-16) satellite of SES AMERICOM, an SES GLOBAL company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchanges: SESG), roared into space onboard an Atlas V launch vehicle from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this morning at 7:07 a.m. Eastern Time. After 109 minutes, the spacecraft separated from the Centaur upper stage and was placed into geostationary transfer orbit. Initial signals were received from the satellite at 9:41 a.m. ET.

The hybrid Ku- and Ka-band satellite will begin payload and performance testing at 82 degrees West. It is anticipated that AMC-16 will be ready to support the transmission of high-speed data and digital video services throughout the U.S. for the AMERICOM2Home® customer EchoStar DISH Network during the first quarter of 2005.

“We are delighted that AMC-16 has been successfully launched; our heartiest congratulations first to Lockheed Martin for delivering a great spacecraft and to International Launch Services for this morning’s picture-perfect launch. AMC-16 is the second satellite platform we are putting into operation dedicated to EchoStar Communications Corp.’s DISH Network satellite TV service,” said Anders Johnson, Senior Vice President of Strategic Satellite Initiatives, SES AMERICOM. ”With the successful launch of AMC-16, in combination with its soon-to-be-operating identical twin, AMC-15, I believe the AMERICOM2Home® concept has been fully realized and AMERICOM’s excellence is clearly demonstrated once again.”

“Lockheed Martin is proud to continue our history of partnership and teamwork with SES AMERICOM to deliver the AMC-16 satellite, the second Ka-band payload in AMERICOM's fleet," said Ted Gavrilis, President, Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems. "AMC-16 will serve to enhance digital video and data services throughout the 50 U.S. states for EchoStar, the AMERICOM2Home® dedicated customer on AMC-16, and our highly reliable A2100 satellite series is now the foundation for a dozen SES AMERICOM satellites."

“This is record-setting in the number of times we have launched for a single customer in a calendar year,” said ILS President Mark Albrecht. “SES AMERICOM is a ‘platinum customer,’ one with which we have a long-standing relationship and have seen many launches. We look forward to continuing our ties with the launch of WS-2 in early 2005.”

AMC-16 Satellite
Built by Lockheed Martin Commerical Space Systems, AMC-16 was manufactured in their Newtown, Pennsylvania and Sunnyvale, California facilities. The hybrid spacecraft is based on an A2100AX platform; its Ku-band payload features 24 – 36 MHz transponders with 140-watt TWTAs while the Ka-band payload features 12 – 125 MHz spot beams with 75-watt TWTAs. The satellite’s solar panels and two communication antennas will be deployed approximately 10 days after launch. AMC-16 is expected to reach geosynchronous orbit and its testing orbital location of 82 degrees West by the beginning of January. After thorough testing of all of the on-board systems, it is anticipated that AMC-16 will be ready for service in approximately eight weeks.

 

[dimi1963]

This is all nice, but what it exactly means for the end-user?? More HD, better PQ?

 

[Mark_AR]

More useless shopping/infomercial channels. Woooot! *not*

 

[BFG]

Good question. I don't recall what AMC-16 will be used by echostar for.

 

[Oyving]

Good question. I don't recall what AMC-16 will be used by echostar for.

I was in Orlando for business and I stayed at the same hotel as ILS & SES Americom (Disney's Boardwalk). I did run into an identified individual from Echostar. He said that the bird will give them more KU & Ka bandwidth. Does this "officially" mean the rollout of the Super-Duper Dish?

 

[Poke]

http://www.dailywireless.org/





Spot Beam Satellite Launched Friday, December 17 @ 11:31:00 PST


The AMC-16, a hybrid Ku/Ka band spot-beam satellite, owned by SES AMERICOM, has been successfully launched by an Atlas V rocket provided by International Launch Services.



AMC-16 will feature the second operating Ka-band payload in the SES AMERICOM fleet, with 12 spot-beams and 24-36Mhz transponders of Ku-band capacity for both fixed satellite service or direct broadcast service. It is expected to provide service from the 85 degrees west longitude orbital position in the first quarter of 2005.

The hybrid spacecraft, based on an A2100AX platform, features a Ku-band payload with 24 – 36 MHz transponders with 140-watt TWTAs. The Ka-band payload features 12 – 125 MHz spot beams with 75-watt TWTAs. Mobile satellite services using UHF, L-band, and S- band payloads are also included. The satellite’s solar panels and two communication antennas will be deployed approximately 10 days after launch.

The Ka-band beams will be deployed in a pattern to take advantage of frequency re-use while eliminating interference between and among the beams. The satellite weighs 4312 pounds and it is designed for a 15- year life. EchoStar Communications, a leading U.S. satellite TV provider, will use both payloads on AMC-16.

AMC-15, featured the first Ka-band operating payload in the SES AMERICOM fleet, and was successfully launched in October aboard an ILS Proton vehicle from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. AMC-16 will combine with AMC-15 to be the first pair of many satellites dedicated to AMERICOM2Home, an SES AMERICOM service designed to bring the best in satellite resources to direct-to-home operators in North America.



The largest supplier of satellite services in the U.S., SES AMERICOM currently operates a fleet of 16 spacecraft in orbital positions predominantly providing service throughout the Americas. They also run AMERICOM Government Services to provide services for the hapless NRO and WORLDSAT, to market its international satellites covering Asia and the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean regions.

International Launch Services, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Russia, combines Khrunichev's Proton with the Lockheed Martin-built Atlas.

 

[mike123abc]

It is possible to design a dish (they are sold now) that will do 45 degrees of arc, so it could easily go from 83 to 119 or 36 degrees (83 or perhaps a different slot, it has not been officially announced that I am aware of the other Ku-FSS/Ka slot that Dish has leased from SES).

Dish is being vague/quite about what they are going to do with all this capacity... Now they have (or will as soon as AMC-15 gets to 105) 33% of a Ku-FSS unused at 105, and all of Ka unused at 105, plus 85 (AMC-16) Ku-FSS and Ka unused... A lot of capacity will be sitting empty soon...

 

[Poke]

http://www.ses-americom.com/media/2004/12_17_04.html


AMC-16 Successfully Launched From Cape Canaveral

Atlas V Performs Flawlessly


December 17, 2004 – Princeton, NJ & Cape Canaveral, FL – Against the pre-dawn sky from Cape Canaveral, the AMERICOM-16 (AMC-16) satellite of SES AMERICOM, an SES GLOBAL company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchanges: SESG), roared into space onboard an Atlas V launch vehicle from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this morning at 7:07 a.m. Eastern Time. After 109 minutes, the spacecraft separated from the Centaur upper stage and was placed into geostationary transfer orbit. Initial signals were received from the satellite at 9:41 a.m. ET.

The hybrid Ku- and Ka-band satellite will begin payload and performance testing at 82 degrees West. It is anticipated that AMC-16 will be ready to support the transmission of high-speed data and digital video services throughout the U.S. for the AMERICOM2Home® customer EchoStar DISH Network during the first quarter of 2005.

“We are delighted that AMC-16 has been successfully launched; our heartiest congratulations first to Lockheed Martin for delivering a great spacecraft and to International Launch Services for this morning’s picture-perfect launch. AMC-16 is the second satellite platform we are putting into operation dedicated to EchoStar Communications Corp.’s DISH Network satellite TV service,” said Anders Johnson, Senior Vice President of Strategic Satellite Initiatives, SES AMERICOM. ”With the successful launch of AMC-16, in combination with its soon-to-be-operating identical twin, AMC-15, I believe the AMERICOM2Home® concept has been fully realized and AMERICOM’s excellence is clearly demonstrated once again.”

“Lockheed Martin is proud to continue our history of partnership and teamwork with SES AMERICOM to deliver the AMC-16 satellite, the second Ka-band payload in AMERICOM's fleet," said Ted Gavrilis, President, Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems. "AMC-16 will serve to enhance digital video and data services throughout the 50 U.S. states for EchoStar, the AMERICOM2Home® dedicated customer on AMC-16, and our highly reliable A2100 satellite series is now the foundation for a dozen SES AMERICOM satellites."

“This is record-setting in the number of times we have launched for a single customer in a calendar year,” said ILS President Mark Albrecht. “SES AMERICOM is a ‘platinum customer,’ one with which we have a long-standing relationship and have seen many launches. We look forward to continuing our ties with the launch of WS-2 in early 2005.”

AMC-16 Satellite
Built by Lockheed Martin Commerical Space Systems, AMC-16 was manufactured in their Newtown, Pennsylvania and Sunnyvale, California facilities. The hybrid spacecraft is based on an A2100AX platform; its Ku-band payload features 24 – 36 MHz transponders with 140-watt TWTAs while the Ka-band payload features 12 – 125 MHz spot beams with 75-watt TWTAs. The satellite’s solar panels and two communication antennas will be deployed approximately 10 days after launch. AMC-16 is expected to reach geosynchronous orbit and its testing orbital location of 82 degrees West by the beginning of January. After thorough testing of all of the on-board systems, it is anticipated that AMC-16 will be ready for service in approximately eight weeks.

 

[Poke]

http://www.ses-americom.com/satellites/amc-16.html

AMC-16, like AMC-15, is a hybrid Ku/Ka-band satellite built by Lockheed Martin and based on the A2100 spacecraft platform. Planned to be launched on an Atlas V launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral, the spacecraft will become operational in early 2005 from 85º West.


Satellite information

Spacecraft design Lockheed Martin A2100AX

Orbital location 85o W.L.

Launch Date / Vehicle 4Q 2004 / Atlas V

Design Life 15 years

Ku-band payload 24 x 36 MHz

Amp type Linearized TWTA
140 watts

Amp Redundancy two groups of 18 for 12

Receiver redundancy 4 for 2

Coverage CONUS, Alaska,Hawaii

Beacon 11702.0 MHz (H)
12198.0 MHz (V)

 

[long_time_DNC]

So either they're planning a whole lot of nothing or a whole lot of something, but either way, we essentially have zip for solid info.

 

[BFG]

Same thing they do everyday. Try to takeover the world

Aww, I miss that show

 

[dimi1963]

Bla, Bla, Bla, Yata Yata Yata, what will this do for us!!!!!! I tell you what, Nothing, because for Charlie there is no compelling HD out there.
I am so tired of this E* I am seriously thinking of switching over to cable, if it only was a little cheaper....
I want my HDTV