The AMC-11 telecommunications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin for SES Americom of Princeton, NJ, is ready for launch May 19 from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas IIAS rocket provided by International Launch Services, a Lockheed Martin joint venture.
AMC-11 will carry 24 36 Mhz C-band transponders and will be used to provide cable television services to all 50 United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. AMC-11 will take the place of Satcom C-3 at orbital location 131 degrees West Longitude; when operational later this year, the spacecraft will combine with its twin AMC-10 to form the HD-PRIME cable neighborhood.
AMC-11 is one of three Lockheed Martin-built satellites being launched in 2004 to expand SES-Americom’s world-wide fleet of satellites, which provide global distribution of cable, broadcast television and radio programming, mobile communications, business television, broadband data and telecommunications services.
Based on the award-winning A2100 satellite series manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, Newtown, Pa., AMC-11 has a design life of 15 years.
The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed to meet a wide variety of telecommunications needs ranging from Ka-band/broadband services and fixed satellite services in a C-band and Ku-band payload configuration, to high-power direct broadcast services using the Ku-band frequency spectrum.
The A2100’s modular design features a reduction in parts, simplified construction, increased on-orbit reliability and reduced weight and cost.
