| Mission type | Communication |
|---|---|
| Operator | SES |
| COSPAR ID | 2013-026A |
| SATCAT no. | 39172 |
| Mission duration | 15 years |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | Eurostar E3000 |
| Manufacturer | EADS Astrium |
| Launch mass | 6,010 kilograms (13,250 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 3 June 2013, 09:18:31 UTC |
| Rocket | Proton-M/Briz-M |
| Launch site | Baikonur 200/39 |
| Contractor | ILS |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Geostationary |
| Longitude | 40.5° West |
| Perigee | 35,782 kilometres (22,234 mi) |
| Apogee | 35,804 kilometres (22,248 mi) |
| Inclination | 0.02 degrees |
| Period | 23.93 hours |
| Epoch | 8 November 2013, 02:13:51 UTC |
| Transponders | |
| Band |
Ku band (48) C band (43) |
| Coverage area | North America Latin America Europe Atlantic Ocean |
SES-6 is a commercial geostationary communication satellite owned and operated by SES.
Constructed by EADS Astrium, it was launched on June 3, 2013 and carries 48 Ku-band and 43 C-band transponders.
The SES-6 satellite replaces the aging NSS 806 (launched in February 1998 as Intelsat 806). It is nearly twice as large as NSS-806, with two C-band beams and three for the Ku-band. The C-band beams cover the east Atlantic (Europe, North Africa) and west Atlantic (USA, Mexico, South America). The Ku-band beams cover east Atlantic (Europe, Iceland, Greenland), west Atlantic (Greenland, east USA, east Canada) and Brazil.
In Ku-band, SES-6 will support DTH platforms, VSAT services and government digital inclusion programmes throughout Latin America. The C-band payload will offer 50% more C-band capacity for the cable community, and retain the capability to distribute content between the Americas and Europe on the same high powered beam.
Following the launch, SES announced a long-term capacity agreement to provide a new direct to home (DTH) platform in Brazil with Brazilian telecommunication group Oi, which would become the largest user of the new satellite.