Baikonur, Kazakhstan and Luxembourg – Satellite company SES has announced the successful launch of the SES-5 satellite on board the ILS Proton Breeze M booster today at 00:38:30am Baikonur time. SES-5, which has been released successfully into the geostationary transfer orbit after the 9-hour, 12-minute mission, is designed to deliver high performance and extensive coverage for direct-to-home (DTH) services, broadband, maritime communications, GSM backhaul, and VSAT applications in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

SES-5 will be positioned at the 5°East orbital slot. It features 36 active Ku-band transponders and up to 24 active C-band transponders. SES-5 will have two Ku-band beams—one serving customers in the Nordic and Baltic countries, and another serving Sub-Saharan Africa. Its two C-band beams will have a global coverage and a hemispheric coverage over Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The satellite will also provide Ka-band uplink capabilities, allowing flexible operations between Europe and Africa.