The Americom-18 (AMC-18) satellite was successfully launched Friday onboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle from the French Guiana Spaceport at 7:08 p.m. local time (5:08 p.m. EST.; 22:08 p.m. GMT). After 32 minutes, the spacecraft separated from the Ariane Upper Stage and was placed into geostationary transfer orbit and within moments the satellite sent an initial signal which was received at Lockheed Martin's Uralla, Australia facility. (6:08 p.m. EST; 23:08 GMT).
Edward Horowitz, President and CEO of SES Americom, said, "The launch of AMC-18 is a proud moment for the Americom team. It is also a proud moment for the Lockheed Martin team who has built and delivered an exceptional spacecraft, and for the Ariane team, which has just launched the 25th spacecraft for SES." He continued, "We now look forward to bringing AMC-18 into service as we will be creating America's only three-satellite HDTV neighborhood, HD-PRIME™. At this tipping point in the development of the HD market, we're investing in critically needed bandwidth to fuel this new channel growth."
Marshall Byrd, Vice President and General Manager, Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, said, "Lockheed Martin has a tremendous history with SES Americom, starting with the launch of Satcom F1 in 1975. The first A2100 spacecraft, AMC-1, was launched in 1996 for SES Americom. Lockheed Martin recognizes and deeply appreciates the trust that SES Americom has placed in us throughout our 30-year business relationship and we are proud once again to provide mission success for one of our most long-standing customers."
Jean-Yves LeGall, President and CEO of Arianespace, said, "I would like to thank SES Americom for placing their confidence in Arianespace to deliver AMC-18 safely into orbit. AMC-18 is the twenty-fifth satellite that Arianespace launched for SES GLOBAL, representing 22 years of fruitful cooperation."
AMC-18 is an all C-band satellite, designed to offer full North American coverage including all 50 U.S. states, the Caribbean and Mexico from 105 degrees west longitude. It will become the third satellite in the HD-PRIME neighborhood, joining AMC-10 and AMC-11, which are near capacity. In addition, cable head ends are enjoying access easy-to-install triple-feed antennas accessing AMC-18 plus two additional cable satellites, AMC-1 at 103 degrees West and AMC-4 at 101 degrees West. Working with its customers and the cable industry, Americom has installed triple-feed antennas at cable head-ends serving the majority of the U.S. cable households to facilitate their reception of cable programming from all three spacecraft.
AMC-18 was procured by SES GLOBAL Satellite Leasing Ltd., an SES company located on the Isle of Man; the spacecraft will be operated and marketed by SES Americom. The satellite, built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS), will be the 13th A2100-based spacecraft in the Americom fleet. LMCSS will perform the transfer orbit operation and deliver AMC-18 to 80 degrees West; Americom takes over the spacecraft to begin in-orbit testing on December 19th.
