AMC-6, formerly GE-6, is a commercial broadcast communications satellite owned by SES S.A. 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]
Names | GE-6 (1997-2001) AMC-6 (2001-present) Rainbow 2 (2004-present) |
---|---|
Mission type | Communications[1] |
Operator | GE Americom (2000-2001) SES Americom (2001-2009) SES World Skies (2009-2011) SES S.A. (2011-present) |
COSPAR ID | 2000-067A ![]() |
SATCAT no. | 26580 |
Website | AMC-6 website |
Mission duration | 15 years (planned) 21 years, 9 months, 28 days (elapsed) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | GE-6 |
Bus | A2100AX[2] |
Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
Launch mass | 3,909 kg (8,618 lb) [3] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 21 October 2000, 22:00:00 UTC |
Rocket | Proton-K / DM3[3] |
Launch site | Baikonur, Site 81/23[1][3] |
Contractor | Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit[4] |
Regime | Geostationary orbit |
Longitude | 72° West [5] |
Transponders | |
Band | 52 transponders: 24 C-band 28 Ku-band |
Frequency | 36 MHz 72 MHz (4 Ku-band) |
Coverage area | North America, Greenland, Latin America[5] |
SES constellation |
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]
Satellites operated by SES S.A. | |
---|---|
SES fleet | |
AMC fleet | |
NSS fleet | |
Astra fleet | |
Third parties |
|
← 1999 · Orbital launches in 2000 · 2001 → | |
---|---|
USA-148 | Galaxy 10R | Feng Huo 1 | JAWSAT · FalconSAT-1 · ASUSat-1 · OCSE · OPAL (STENSAT · MEMS 1A · MEMS 1B · MASAT · Thelma · Louise) | Progress M1-1 | Kosmos 2369 | Hispasat 1C | Globalstar 60 · Globalstar 62 · Globlastar 63 · Globalstar 64 | Gruzovoy Maket · IRDT-1 | ASTRO-E | STS-99 | Garuda 1 | Superbird-B2 | Ekspress A2 | MTI | ICO F1 | Dumsat | INSAT-3B · AsiaStar | IMAGE | Soyuz TM-30 | SESAT 1 | Galaxy 4R | Progress M1-2 | GOES 11 | Kosmos 2370 | USA-149 | USA-150 | SimSat 1 · SimSat 2 | STS-101 | Eutelsat W4 | Gorizont No.45L | TSX-5 | Ekspress A3 | Feng Yun 2B · Nadezhda 6 · Tsinghua 1 · SNAP-1 | TDRS-8 | Sirius FM-1 | Kosmos 2371 | Zvezda | EchoStar VI | CHAMP · MITA · Rubin-1 | USA-151 | Samba · Salsa | Sindri (MEMS 2A · MEMS 2B) | PAS-9 | Progress M1-3 | Rumba · Tango | Brazilsat B4 · Nilesat 102 | USA-152 | DM-F3 | Globus No.16L | Zi Yuan 2 | Sirius FM-2 | Eutelsat W1 | STS-106 | Astra 2B | GE-7 | NOAA-16 | Kosmos 2372 | Megsat 1 · Unisat 1 · Saudisat 1A · Saudisat 1B · TiungSAT-1 | Kosmos 2373 | GE-1A | N-SAT-110 | HETE-2 | STS-92 (ITS Z1 · PMA-3) | Kosmos 2374 · Kosmos 2375 · Kosmos 2376 | Progress M-43 | USA-153 | Thuraya 1 | GE-6 | Europe*Star 1 | Beidou 1A | Soyuz TM-31 | USA-154 | PAS-1R · AMSAT-P3D · STRV 1C · STRV 1D | Progress M1-4 | QuickBird-1 | EO-1 · SAC-C · Munin | Anik F1 | Sirius FM-3 | STS-97 (ITS P6) | EROS A | USA-155 | Astra 2D · GE-8 · LDREX | Beidou 1B | Gonets-D1 No.7 · Gonets-D1 No.8 · Gonets-D1 No.9 · Strela-3 No.125 · Strela-3 No.126 · Strela-3 No.127 | |
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets. |