SpaceX completes launch of SES satellites for C-band coverage

The SES-18 and SES-19 satellites, designed and assembled by Northrop Grumman, were successfully launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida (United States) at 7:38 p.m. local time on Friday, March 17.

The two American-made satellites are the fourth and fifth (and last) satellites to be launched as part of the transition plan to C-band SES, tras el lanzamiento de SES-22 en junio de 2022 y el lanzamiento en tándem de SES-20 y SES-21 en octubre de 2022.

Estos satélites son partes esenciales del plan de SES para lograr que el programa de la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones (FCC) despeje el espectro de la banda C para permitir a los operadores inalámbricos desplegar servicios 5G en todo el territorio contiguo de Estados Unidos (CONUS), al tiempo que garantiza que los clientes actuales de SES sigan disfrutando de servicios ininterrumpidos de televisión, radio y transmisión de datos críticos a millones de estadounidenses.

Desde 2020, SES, junto con otros operadores de satélites, ha estado despejando 300 MHz de espectro de banda C and transitioning customer services to the remaining 200 MHz of allocated spectrum by launching new satellites, building new earth stations, and sending hundreds of satellite earth station technicians across the country to install new filters on customer antennas.

By providing contractual service protections to customers receiving video services in the United States, SES-18 and SES-19 will enable SES to safely clear C-band spectrum to help meet the FCC's ambitious goals for American 5G innovation. SES-18 is expected to begin operations in June 2023 at 103 degrees West replacing the C-band payload of SES-3 and SES-19 will be co-located with SES-22 at 135 degrees West.