SES achieves historic milestone by launching SES-10 aboard previously used Space-X rocket

SES's first satellite fully dedicated to providing services for Latin America, it is located in the orbital position 67 degrees west.

The SES-10 satellite has been successfully launched into orbit aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, which had already been launched previously, at 6:27 p.m. local time from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida. SES-10 is the first commercial geostationary satellite launched on a rocket whose first stage was recovered from a previous mission.

With a payload of 55 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz equivalent), of which 27 are incremental in the orbital position of 67 degrees West, it is the first SES satellite fully dedicated to providing services for Latin America. The high-power flexible beams of the SES-10 satellite will increase the capacity of SES in the region, by providing direct connectivity to homes, businesses and mobile connectivity services.

SES-10 will replace capacity currently provided by other SES satellites at 67 degrees west, in addition to expanding capacity to Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

According to the agreement with the member countries of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru), the satellite will operate as the Simón Bolívar 2 of the Andean Community, providing satellite capacity for each Andean country. The Andean satellite project comes from the interests of the Member States with the purpose of having a common satellite network, thus taking advantage of the Andean spectrum resources of the orbital position of 67 degrees west.

Martin Halliwel, chief technology officer at SES, recognizes that "the successful launch of SES-10 on SpaceX's first mission with a rocket that it has previously launched on another mission, opens a new era in space flight. We are proud to partner with SpaceX on this journey of innovation in the use of reusable rockets, which will increase the efficiency of access to space, in terms of costs and mission management. The additional capacity offered by the SES-10 satellite is ideal for the supply of “Additional television services, with better image quality, as well as faster broadband connectivity services – both will be enjoyed by millions of people in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

"We are delighted to have achieved the successful launch of a reusable Falcon 9 rocket. This is a historic milestone on the path to complete and rapid reusability. We are pleased to have achieved this milestone with SES, which has been a strong supporter of SpaceX and innovation for years," said Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX.

El satélite SES-10 fue construido por Airbus Defence & Space basado en la plataforma Eurostar E3000.Utilizará un sistema de propulsión eléctrica por plasma en las maniobras en órbita, y un sistema químico para la primera puesta en órbita y algunas maniobras en órbita.