AMC-6

For the ship, see USS Heath Hen (AMc-6).

AMC-6
NamesGE-6 (1997-2001)
AMC-6 (2001-present)
Rainbow 2 (2004-present)
Mission typeCommunications[1]
OperatorGE Americom (2000-2001)
SES Americom (2001-2009)
SES World Skies (2009-2011)
SES (2011-present)
COSPAR ID2000-067A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.26580
WebsiteAMC-6 website
Mission duration15 years (planned)
24 years, 3 months, 2 days (elapsed)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftGE-6
BusA2100AX[2]
ManufacturerLockheed Martin
Launch mass3,909 kg (8,618 lb) [3]
Start of mission
Launch date21 October 2000, 22:00:00 UTC
RocketProton-K / DM3[3]
Launch siteBaikonur, Site 81/23[1][3]
ContractorKhrunichev State Research and Production Space Center
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit[4]
RegimeGeostationary orbit
Longitude72° West [5]
Transponders
Band52 transponders:
24 C-band
28 Ku-band
Frequency36 MHz
72 MHz (4 Ku-band)
Coverage areaNorth America, Greenland, Latin America[5]
← AMC-5
AMC-7 →

AMC-6, formerly GE-6, is a commercial broadcast communications satellite owned by SES Launched on 21 October 2000, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, AMC-6 became the fifth hybrid C-band / Ku-band satellite in the GE Americom fleet. The satellite provides coverage to the continental United States, Canada, the Caribbean islands, southern Greenland, and Latin America. Located in a geostationary orbit parallel to the eastern United States coastline, AMC-6 provides service to commercial and government customers, and is used as an Internet platform due to its wide coverage, scale and redundancy. Some of its capabilities include Very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) networking, satellite news gathering and Ku-band transceiver service.[5] Launched as GE-6, it was renamed AMC-6 when SES took over GE Americom in 2001, forming SES Americom. This merged with SES New Skies in 2009 to form SES World Skies.[6]

Rainbow 2

Rainbow Media announced in November 2004, that it will utilize 16 transponders on the AMC-6 satellite, which VOOM refers to as Rainbow 2.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Display: GE 6 2000-067A". NASA. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Satellite Manufacturing Special - The time factor" (PDF). Satellite Evolution. September–October 2004. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Krebs, Gunter (12 April 2019). "GE 4, 6 / AMC 4, 6 / Rainbow 2". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  4. ^ "AMC-6 (GE-6)". N2YO.com. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Satellite Data". SES World Skies. Archived from the original on 5 June 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  6. ^ "SES Americom-New Skies Satellite Division Re-Brands as SES World Skies". Reuters. 7 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2012.