SES Astra will launch two new satellites into orbit in September

SES Astra will launch into orbit in a few weeks the QuetzSat-1, a Ku band satellite that will cover Mexico, the United States and Central America (it will be used by Dish Mexico for its DTH services) and the SES-2, a C and Ku band hybrid that will cover North America and the Caribbean.

The new SES Astra satellites QuetzSat-1 and SES-2 have already arrived in perfect condition at the Baikonur (Kazakhstan) and Kourou (French Guiana) space centers, respectively. Both satellites are scheduled to be launched into orbit next September. Both satellites launch in September.

QuetzSat-1, manufactured by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) will be launched aboard the ILS Proton Breeze M spacecraft. It is a Ku-band satellite that will provide satellite communications coverage from its position at 77 degrees West to Mexico, the United States and Central America. This new satellite will be used, among other companies, by Dish México for its DTH services.
The QuetzSat-1 is based on the SS/L 1300 platform which provides the flexibility to support a wide range of applications and high power for advanced DTH television services. Its useful life could exceed 15 years.

SES-2
As for SES-2, manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation, it is being prepared for launch aboard an Ariane 5 ECA, which is scheduled for launch in early September.

SES-2 is a hybrid between a C and Ku band satellite and will replace the SES AMC-3 SES at 87º West and will cover North America and the Caribbean. The satellite will provide advanced television, business, VSAT and government services. The satellite's cross-band C and Ku band capabilities will allow customers to further optimize their business networks.

SES-2 is based on the Star 2.4 platform and has 24 C-band transponders and 24 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz equivalent), generates around five kilowatts of payload power, and has a useful life of 15 years.