Following extensive testing, SES-10, the first satellite to be launched using a SpaceX rocket, is now fully operational for services across Latin America.
Launched on 30 March this year, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida onboard a flight-proven SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, The satellite is the first geostationary commercial satellite ever launched on a flight-proven first-stage rocket booster.
SES-10 was built by Airbus Defence and Space and is based on the Eurostar E3000 platform. The multi-mission spacecraft is the first SES satellite dedicated to providing service to Latin America and has a Ku-band payload of 55 36MHz transponder equivalents, of which 27 are incremental. SES-10's high-powered beams will augment SES’s capabilities across the region and will provide direct-to-home broadcasting, enterprise and mobility services to Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
Pursuant to an agreement with the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru), the satellite will operate as the Andean Community’s Simón Bolivar 2, providing satellite capacity for each Andean Member State. The Andean satellite project came from the shared Member States’ interest in having a common satellite network to take advantage of the Andean spectrum resources at 67 degrees West.
Image: The launch of SES-10 on 30 March
