SES AMERICOM Retires SATCOM C-4 After 14 Years of Service

[Analoguesat]

Recognized as a c@ble distribution workhorse, C-4 completes de-orbiting maneuvers significantly exceeding design life


March 1, 2007 – Princeton, N.J. – SES AMERICOM, an SES Company (Luxembourg and Euronext Paris stock exchanges: SESG), today conducted its last operations on the SATCOM C-4 satellite, safely de-orbiting the satellite more than 250 km beyond the geosynchronous orbital belt. The Series 3000 spacecraft was built by GE ASTRO SPACE, now Lockheed Martin, with a design-life of 12 years. The satellite provided C-band services for 14.5 years reaching all 50 U.S. states, exceeding its expected service life by 20% due to efficient management of on-board fuel.

“SATCOM C-4 was a valuable spacecraft in our fleet and provided consistently high quality services to some of our most important c@ble customers including American Movie Classics, Bravo, C-SPAN, Discovery Networks, iN Demand, Lifetime Entertainment, MTV Networks, Showtime, and The Weather Channel. It’s a great reflection on the quality of the spacecraft as well as the quality of the team that operated it that we could depend on it for so long. We have one last Series 3000 spacecraft in our fleet, SATCOM C-3, which has also exceeded our operational expectations,” said Dany Harel, SES AMERICOM Senior Vice President, Space Systems and Operations.

About SATCOM C-4
SATCOM C-4, a C-band satellite, was a GE ASTRO SPACE 3000 satellite. Launched in August, 1992 aboard a Delta 2 rocket out of Cape Canaveral, it served as one of two anchors of SES AMERICOM’s c@ble neighborhood. For most of its 14.5 years of outstanding service, C4 operated from 135 degrees W.L. and provided service to c@ble programmers. In addition to improved coverage over its predecessor, each of C-4’s twenty-four 36 MHz transponders featured 12 watt SSPAs, a significant increase in power over previous generation satellites. With the 2004 launch of the next generation satellites, AMC-10 and AMC-11, SATCOM C-4 was redeployed to 85 degrees W.L. and then on to 105 degrees W.L. where it primarily delivered occasional use services.

About SES AMERICOM
The largest supplier of satellite services in the Americas, SES AMERICOM, Inc. is recognized as a pioneer of global satellite communications services. Established in 1973 with its first satellite circuit for the U.S. Department of Defense, the company currently operates a fleet of 16 spacecraft in orbital positions predominantly providing service throughout the Americas. As a member of the SES family, SES AMERICOM is able to provide end-to-end telecommunications solutions to any region in the world. With its combined operations, SES AMERICOM serves broadcasters, c@ble programmers, aeronautical and maritime communications integrators, Internet service providers, mobile communications networks, government agencies, educational institutions, carriers and secure global data networks with efficient communication and content distribution solutions.

(SES Americom website).