SES successfully launches satellite pair

SES has announced the successful launch of the SES-20 and SES-21 satellites.

The satellites were launched into space by the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States, at 5:36 pm local time on Tuesday, October 4.

Both C-band satellites will deliver TV and radio to millions of homes across the US from the 103 degrees West and 131 degrees West orbital slots, respectively. They will begin operating in November. 

The pair of satellites are the second and third C-band satellites that SES has launched as part of its effort to free up the lower 300 MHz of C-band spectrum across the US by December 2022. It is part of a broader programme from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to clear a portion of C-band spectrum to enable the deployment of 5G services. 

Steve Collar, CEO of SES, said: “The successful launch of SES-20 and SES-21 will allow us to support our customers in delivering high-quality sports and entertainment to tens of millions of US households while delivering on our promise to repurpose spectrum to enable US leadership in 5G. The second phase of our U.S. C-band clearing activities is fully on track and we are grateful for the hard work of our partners at Boeing and ULA.”