SES-12 at 95° East
| Position: | 95° East |
| Manufacturer: | Airbus Defense & Space |
| Operator: | SES |
| Launch operator: | SpaceX |
| Launch vehicle: | Falcon 9 |
| Launch date: | 06/04/2018 |
| Expected lifetime: | 15+ Years |
SES-12 at 95° East is a powerful geostationary communications satellite operating in Ku- and Ka-bands, which uses electric propulsion for initial orbit raising and all on-orbit manoeuvers.
In July 2014 SES awarded Airbus Defense & Space to design and build a highly innovative high-performance telecommunications satellite. The satellite was based on the highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform as an all new EOR (Electric Orbit Raising) version.
The satellite had a dual mission. It replaced the NSS-6 satellite in orbit, providing television broadcasting and telecom infrastructure services from one end of Asia to the other, with beams adapted to six areas of coverage. It would also have a flexible multi-beam processed payload for providing broadband services covering a large expanse from Africa to Russia, Middle-East, Asia Pacific and Australia, including rapidly growing markets such as India and Indonesia.
SES-12 at 95° East will operate in the Ku and Ka bands with a total of 76 active transponders, and will be equipped with eight antennas. The satellite also incorporates other state-of-the-art solutions, in particular multi-beam antennas linked to a digital signal processor that enables a multitude of basic spectral channels to be allocated to various beams in a completely flexible manner. It will have a launch weight of 5,300 kg and an electric power of 19 kW.
SES-12 was to be launched on an Ariane-5ECA booster, operated by launch operator Arianespace. In August 2017, the launch providers for SES-12 and SES-14 were switched, putting SES-12 on a Falcon-9 v1.2 operated by SpaceX and launched on June 4th, 2018. The satellite’s nominal operational position was 95° East and it has been designed to remain in service in orbit for more than 15 years.
SES-12 at 95° East
SES-12 at 95° East
