AMC-23 declared operational at 172E

[Analoguesat]

AMC-23 Successfully Completes I.O.T.
Hybrid Satellite Readied for High Speed Connectivity to Airline Passengers and Regional Government Applications


March 2, 2006 – Princeton, N.J. – SES AMERICOM, an SES GLOBAL company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges: SESG), announced today that the AMERICOM-23 (AMC-23) satellite that was launched on December 29, 2005, has successfully completed a full battery of in-orbit-tests and is now operational from its assigned location of 172 degrees East.

As of today, the large, high-powered, C/Ku-band satellite, is providing services to customers including Connexion by Boeing, a provider of in-flight high-speed Internet service, on the Ku-band payload as well as various commercial and government customers on the C-band side.

Dany Harel, SES AMERICOM’s Vice President of Space Systems and Operations, said, “The I.O.T. has been remarkably smooth and we have every confidence that for the next 15 years AMC-23 will support a multitude of customer applications … from high-speed broadband access to the internet for airline passengers flying over the Pacific … to television delivery between the U.S. and East Asia.” He continued, “AMC-23 bears the distinctive attributes of an AMERICOM-specified spacecraft with high levels of redundancy in critical bus and payload subsystems; Alcatel delivered a great next-generation satellite.”

Jeff Flagel, Director of Supply Chain & Production, Connexion by Boeing, said, “AMC-23 will enable Connexion by Boeing to offer our service in aviation and maritime markets over the vast Pacific Ocean, as well as select land masses in the Pacific Rim. That coverage has been and remains a key part of our strategy in expanding our global network.”

“The distinctive coverage and power of AMC-23 positions AMERICOM to 1) expand our ability to serve various branches of U.S. Armed Forces in the Pacific region through AMERICOM Government Services; 2) address business network demands for data, voice and video services within the Alaska to Australia footprint; 3) offer regional broadcasters a singular path between the Pacific Rim and the Americas; and 4) through Connexion by Boeing, support direct to aircraft and maritime services,” said Andreas Georghiou, SES AMERICOM Chief Commercial Officer.

About AMC-23
Built by Alcatel Alenia Space, AMC-23 is the second Spacebus 4000 spacecraft in the AMERICOM fleet, and has been prepared for operation from 172 degrees East. A hybrid C/Ku-band satellite, AMC-23 can deliver and receive signals from California to Bangladesh, from as far north as Alaska in the U.S. and as far south as Australia and New Zealand, and all points in between. The spacecraft will serve local, transcontinental and transoceanic customers across the Pacific region, including Western North America, East Asia, the South Pacific, Alaska and Hawaii, and provide links to the world's premier regional satellite systems.

The design of AMC-23 combines a conventional C-band landmass coverage payload with an innovative Ku-band oceanic coverage payload. The satellite’s Ku-band payload, comprised of 20 high-powered transponders with varied bandwidths from 27 to 72 MHz, has been tailored to ensure consistent and constant broadband connectivity requirements of our customers, including Connexion by Boeing. In comparison, the 18 transponder C-band payload will be used by broadcasters, cable programmers, Internet service providers, government agencies, educational institutions, carriers and private networks for next-generation distribution solutions within, and connectivity to, North America and the Pacific Rim

source SES Americam press release.