Advanced Television

SES fills AMC-9 gap

June 27, 2017

By Chris Forrester

Satellite operator SES says it has completely restored service for all of its clients who used its AMC-9 satellite.

Communications with the satellite were lost on June 17th, but SES says the majority of its customers, including in-flight communications specialists Gogo, were speedily re-housed on alternate satellites by the following evening, June 18th.

However, SES is also moving “additional assets” to the AMC-9 location of 83 degrees West to continue the original satellite’s mission.

There’s no positive news on the recovery of SES-9. It is slowly drifting through space and poses no threat to satellites in its path. “SES continues to work with the manufacturer to identify the root cause of the anomaly, as well as any possible options to recover the spacecraft,” says a statement from SES.

“Thanks to the restoration plan, the potential impact on SES’s full year 2017 group revenue is expected to be lower than €20 million, which includes the potential reduction in available fleet transponders for future commercialisation. The one-off impairment charge is expected to be €38 million,” added the SES statement.

“SES wishes to thank all of its affected customers for their understanding and cooperation. In addition, SES wishes to thank the FCC for its support over the weekend, by providing the necessary approvals to help put in effect the needed solutions” said Martin Halliwell, SES CTO. “Beyond AMC-9 status, SES continues to work towards a long-term plan of capacity replacement.”

“The AMC-9 restoration strategy demonstrates one of the many benefits of working with a satellite operator with a large global fleet,” said Anand Chari, Gogo EVP/CTO. “All networks, satellite and terrestrial, can occasionally suffer such rare mishaps. SES’s ability to recover so quickly and effectively is a compelling testament to the size and flexibility of its fleet, the professionalism of its people, and the operational processes in place to ensure the resiliency needed to keep businesses, such as Gogo, running seamlessly.”

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