NSS-9 at 177° East

In November 2009 SES New Skies awarded the contract for the construction of the NSS-9 satellite to Orbital Sciences Corp. (Orbital ATK – Northrop Grumman). Based on Orbital’s Star-2 Bus, the spacecraft will have a launch mass of 2,230kgs and a payload power of 2.3kW. NSS-9 was procured by SES Global Satellite Leasing Ltd., and will be commercially operated by SES New Skies.

The NSS-9 spacecraft is positioned at the orbital location of 177° East, allowing NSS-5 to be re-deployed to a new orbital slot. NSS-9 carries 28 active C-band transponders and feature three beams that can be interconnected on a transponder-by-transponder basis: A global beam providing coverage of the entire earth visible from 177° East, a West hemisphere beam (covering Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, China, Korea and the Pacific Islands) and an East hemisphere beam (providing coverage and connectivity to the U.S., Hawaii and Polynesia). The satellite is specified for a minimum service life of 15 years.

NSS-9 was launched on February 12^th, 2009, on an Ariane 5 rocket operated by launch operator Arianespace from the Kourou Space Port in French Guiana.

NSS-9 at 177° East

Ariane 5 launch vehicle on launch pad

Ariane 5 launching Viasat-2

NSS-9 satellite in orbit

NSS-9 at 177° East

NSS-9 at 177° East

NSS-9 East Hemi C-band Beam M

NSS-9 West Hemi C-band Beam M