AMC-6 (satellite)
Encyclopedia
AMC-6, formerly GE-6, is a commercial broadcast communications satellite
owned by SES World Skies. Launched on October 21, 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 Central and South 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 and redundancy. Some of its capabilities include VSAT
networking, satellite news gathering and Ku band transceiver service. 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.
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
owned by SES World Skies. Launched on October 21, 2000, from Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, AMC-6 became the fifth hybrid C band
C band
The C band is a name given to certain portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, including wavelengths of microwaves that are used for long-distance radio telecommunications. The IEEE C-band - and its slight variations - contains frequency ranges that are used for many satellite communications...
/Ku band
Ku band
The Kμ band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies. This symbol refers to —in other words, the band directly below the K-band...
satellite in the GE Americom fleet. The satellite provides coverage to the continental United States, Canada, the Caribbean islands, southern Greenland, and Central and South America. Located in a geostationary orbit
Geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
parallel to the eastern United States coastline, AMC-6 provides service to commercial and government customers, and is used as an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
platform due to its wide coverage and redundancy. Some of its capabilities include VSAT
Very small aperture terminal
A very-small-aperture terminal , is a two-way satellite ground station or a stabilized maritime Vsat antenna with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3 meters. The majority of VSAT antennas range from 75 cm to 1.2 m. Data rates typically range from 56 kbps up to 4 Mbps...
networking, satellite news gathering and Ku band transceiver service. Launched as GE-6, it was renamed AMC-6 when SES took over GE Americom in 2001, forming SES Americom
SES Americom
SES Americom was a major commercial satellite operator based in the United States. Formerly RCA Americom and GE Americom, the company became one of the principal parts of SES S.A.....
. This merged with SES New Skies
SES NEW SKIES
SES World Skies—formerly SES New Skies, New Skies Satellites , and SES Americom—is a Dutch operator of communications spacecraft, owned by SES.On 30 November 1998, several former Intelsat satellites were transferred to New Skies’ control...
in 2009 to form SES World Skies.