AMC-6

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

AMC-6Names| 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 (2011-present)
COSPAR ID| 2000-067A
SATCAT no.| 26580
Website| AMC-6 website
Mission duration| 15 years (planned)
24 years, 9 months (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

← 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* Spaceflight portal

1. ^ a b "Display: GE 6 2000-067A". NASA. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021. 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.

## External links

[edit]

* AMC-6 website
* C-band Americas Beam footprint(s) at SatBeams
* Ku-band Americas Beam footprint(s) at SatBeams
* AMC-6 information at LyngSat

* v
* t
* e

Satellites operated by SES

SES fleet|

* Active: SES-1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11 (EchoStar 105)
* 12
* 14
* 15
* 16 (GovSat-1)
* 17
* 24 (Astra 1P)

AMC fleet|

* Active: AMC-4
* 6
* 8
* 10
* 11
* 15
* 16
* 18
* 21
* Backups: AMC-7
* Retired: AMC-1
* 2
* 3
* 5
* 9
* Failed launch: AMC-14

NSS fleet|

* Active: NSS-6
* 7
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* 806
* Retired: NSS-5
* 513
* 703
* K
* Failed launch: NSS-8

Astra fleet|

* Active: Astra 1KR
* 1L
* 1M
* 1N
* 1P (SES-24)
* 2E
* 2F
* 2G
* 3B
* 4A
* 5B
* Backups: Astra 1D
* 1F
* 1G
* 1H
* 2A
* 2B
* 2C
* 2D
* 3A
* Retired: Astra 1A
* 1B
* 1C
* 1E
* 5A
* Sirius 3
* Failed launch: Astra 1K
* Orbital positions: 5.0°E
* 19.2°E
* 23.5°E
* 28.2°E
* 31.5°E
* Subsidiary: SES Astra

Third parties|

* Active: Ciel-2
* MonacoSAT
* QuetzSat 1
* Yahsat 1A

* v
* t
* e

← 1999

Orbital launches in 2000

2001 →

January|

* USA-148
* Galaxy 10R
* Feng Huo 1
* JAWSAT, FalconSAT-1, ASUSat-1, OCSE, OPAL (STENSAT, MEMS 1A, MEMS 1B, MASAT, Thelma, Louise)

February|

* 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

March|

* Ekspress A2
* MTI
* ICO F1
* Dumsat
* INSAT-3B, AsiaStar
* IMAGE

April|

* Soyuz TM-30
* SESAT 1
* Galaxy 4R
* Progress M1-2

May|

* GOES 11
* Kosmos 2370
* USA-149
* USA-150
* SimSat 1, SimSat 2
* STS-101
* Eutelsat W4

June|

* Gorizont No.45L
* TSX-5
* Ekspress A3
* Fengyun 2B, Nadezhda 6, Tsinghua 1, SNAP-1
* TDRS-8
* Sirius FM-1

July|

* Kosmos 2371
* Zvezda
* EchoStar VI
* CHAMP, MITA, Rubin-1
* USA-151
* Samba, Salsa
* Sindri (MEMS 2A, MEMS 2B)
* PAS-9

August|

* Progress M1-3
* Rumba, Tango
* Brazilsat B4, Nilesat 102
* USA-152
* DM-F3
* Globus No.16L

September|

* 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

October|

* 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

November|

* 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

December|

* 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

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