The SES AMERICOM fleet features one of the youngest spacecraft line-ups in the sky today, with launches of fifteen current generation satellites since 1996 and one new, state-of-the-art satellites slated for launch by the end of 2005.

Five Launches in 12 Months Time

The clear winter steppes of Kazakhstan witnessed a perfect Proton launch at dawn on 3 February 2005, with first, second and third stage ignitions all visible to the naked eye as the rocket rose toward the heavens. Click here to see for yourself.  Inside the launch vehicle fairing sat AMERICOM's largest payload ever in the AMC-12 satellite -- a 4,974-kg Alcatel Spacebus 4000C3 with 72 C-band transponders. Scheduled to be brought into service in April, 2005, it will replace Satcom C1 at 37.5º West. This satellite was formerly referred to as WORLDSAT-2.

Rising through early morning clouds, AV-005, an Atlas V (521 configuration) lifted off Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 41 on 17 December 2004, carrying the AMC-16 satellite into orbit. It is AMERICOM’s second hybrid Ku/Ka-band satellite dedicated to
AMERICOM2Home^® and EchoStar. Click here to see the video clip of the launch.

The AMC-15 satellite roared into space onboard a Russian Proton M/Breeze M launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 15 October 2004. After 6 hours and 55 minutes, the spacecraft separated from the Breeze M upper stage and was placed into geostationary target orbit. As the first satellite dedicated to AMERICOM2Home^®, AMC-15 has been optimized to provide both direct-to-home video and broadband services into a single dish. After thorough testing of all on-board systems, AMC-15 will be ready to operate from its intended 105 degrees West orbital position and deliver service to all 50 U.S. states. Click here to see the video clip of the launch.

AMC-11 was launched on 19 May 2004, via an Atlas IIAS launch vehicle. Upon successful completion of extensive in-orbit testing,  AMC-11 will join its identical twin satellite, AMC-10, in distributing some of the country’s most popular HD and standard definition programming over HD-PRIME, America's Cable Neighborhood. A growing list of marquee producers has already signed up for dedicated use of the reliable and advanced platform to distribute an array of digital services, including a handful of very popular high definition channels. Click here to watch the launch video.

The first Atlas flight of 2004 placed the AMC-10 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit on 5 February 2004. The AMC-10 satellite replaced Satcom C4 at the 135° West longitude orbital position on 4 May 2004. Click here to watch the launch video.