SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announces
that the SES-8 satellite has successfully launched into space from the Kennedy
Space Center at Cape Canaveral in the US.
A Falcon 9 booster operated by SpaceX successfully injected the SES-8 satellite into
geostationary transfer orbit, 31 minutes after lift-off, in what was SES’s maiden use
of a SpaceX / Falcon 9 rocket. SES has three more SpaceX / Falcon 9 boosters
under contract.
SES-8 was manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation. The satellite features up
to 33 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz equivalent). SES-8 is authorised by The
Netherlands and will be co-located with NSS-6 at the orbital location of 95 degrees
east to provide growth capacity over Asia-Pacific.
The spacecraft’s high-performance beams will support the rapidly growing markets in
South Asia and Indo-China, as well as provide expansion capacity for DTH, VSAT and
government applications.
Romain Bausch, president and CEO of SES, said: “SES’s maiden launch on board a
Falcon 9 rocket is yet another example of our company’s spirit of innovation and
advancement of the commercial space industry. We congratulate the SpaceX team
for the success of a challenging launch campaign and our longstanding supplier
Orbital for innovating with us in exploring new paths to orbit while delivering a brand-
new, state-of-the-art satellite for Asia.
“Our customers are looking forward to the new capacity, and we are delighted that
SES, in collaboration with SpaceX and Orbital, is all set to deliver following today’s
successful launch. Through the co-location with NSS-6 at 95 degrees East, SES-8
will not only provide incremental high performance capacity, notably for DTH
services, it will also create greater reliability and additional security for customers.
The SES-8 satellite will significantly contribute to SES’s growing presence in Asia-
Pacific.’
Commented Elon Musk, CEO and chief designer of SpaceX: “Today’s successful
insertion of the SES-8 satellite marks SpaceX’s first geo-synchronous transfer
mission and confirms the Falcon 9 launch vehicle lives up to the industry’s highest
performance standards.
“As always, SpaceX remains committed to delivering the safest, most reliable launch
vehicles on the market today. We appreciate SES’s early confidence in SpaceX and
look forward to launching additional SES satellites in the years to come.’
