SES-17

SES-17, is a high throughput all electric geostationary

communications satellite currently under construction and SES-17
testing for launch in August 2021. Owned and operated by SES Mission type Communications
S.A., and designed and manufactured by Thales Alenia Space,
SES-17 will operate in conjunction with SES's other Operator SES
geostationary satellites and SES's medium Earth orbit O3b Website https://www.ses.com/
MEO and O3b mPOWER satellites to provide connectivity Mission duration 15 years (planned)
services across the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean
0 days (elapsed)
region.[2][3]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft SES-17
Contents Spacecraft type Spacebus

Satellite description Bus Spacebus NEO

History Manufacturer Thales Alenia Space

See also Launch mass 6,000 kg (13,000 lb)

References Dry mass 5,060 kg (11,160 lb)

External links Power 15 kW

Start of mission

Satellite description Launch date August 2021

(planned) [1]
SES-17 is based on the three axis stabilised Spacebus NEO Rocket Ariane 5 ECA
satellite bus. It has a mass of more than 6,000 kg (13,000 lb), (VA255)
produces 15 kW of power and has a design life of 15 years.[4][2] Launch site Centre Spatial
Like all Spacebus NEO, SES-17 will use electric propulsion
Guyanais,
exclusively for both orbit raising and station keeping and is
Kourou, ELA-3
expected to be launched on an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA
launch vehicle in August 2021.[3][5][6] Contractor Arianespace

The satellite will provide almost 200 Ka-band spot-beams of Orbital parameters
mixed sizes for coverage over North America, South America, Reference system Geocentric orbit
Caribbean, Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean mainly for aircraft
Regime Geostationary orbit
connectivity.[7]
Longitude 67° West
SES-17 is SES's first geostationary Ka-band high-throughput
Transponders
satellite, and the first one to include a fully digital payload, using
Thales' Spaceflex VHTS Processor, a Digital Transparent Band ~200 Ka-band
Processor (DTP) developed with support from the French space Coverage area North America,
agency, CNES and the European Space Agency (ESA) [8] to South America,
provide in-orbit frequency plan flexibility so mobility customers
Caribbean, Central
can change their networks in real time in response to changing
America, Atlantic
Ocean region
bandwidth demands, implementing broadcast, multicast or mesh SES constellation
network as required, and improving efficiency in throughput
and bandwidth use.[9]

Along with SES's forthcoming medium Earth orbit satellite constellation, O3b mPOWER, SES-17 is managed
through the Adaptive Resource Control (ARC) software system developed jointly between SES and Kythera
Space Solutions, autonomously optimizing space and ground resources, on-the-fly, in accordance with
customers' changing needs.[10]

History
On 12 September 2016, SES ordered the SES-17 dedicated Ka-band high-throughput satellite from Thales
Alenia Space of France and Italy, the main contractor for SES's O3b MEO satellites.[5] Offering mobility
connectivity services over the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, SES-17 was expected to launch in 2020 with
the FlytLIVE airline passenger connectivity service from Thales Avionics as its anchor customer. Prior to the
launch of SES-17, FlytLIVE would use capacity contracted by SES on Hughes's EchoStar XVII and
EchoStar XIX satellites, along with SES's own AMC-15 and AMC-16 satellites.[2][11] The cost of the satellite
and launch, and the network of gateways on the ground is expected to be around US$500 million.[5]

In September 2017, SES announced that Arianespace had been selected to launch SES-17 in 2021.[3]

In September 2019, SES announced it had partnered with satellite payload and network management systems
developer, Kythera Space Solutions to develop the ARC (Adaptive Resource Control) software to enable the
dynamic control and optimisation of power, throughput, beams and frequency allocation on SES-17 and other
future high-throughput satellites and their networks.[12]

SES's 2020 Annual Report, released in March 2021, says that SES-17 is expected to launch in Q3 2021 [6]
while, as of April 2021, Arianespace projects a launch in August 2021.[1]

See also
SES S.A.- the owner and operator of SES-17
List of SES satellites - list of all SES satellites
O3b MEO - connectivity satellite constellation owned by SES
O3b mPOWER - forthcoming connectivity satellite constellation owned by SES

References
1. "Launch Schedule" (https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/). 12 April 2021. Retrieved
13 April 2021.
2. "SES orders high throughput satellite from Thales with first secured anchor customer for inflight
connectivity" (https://www.ses.com/press-release/ses-orders-high-throughput-satellite-thales-fir
st-secured-anchor-customer-inflight). SES S.A. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
3. "SES selects Arianespace for launch of SES-17" (http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/s
es-selects-arianespace-for-launch-of-ses-17/). Arianespace. 12 September 2017. Retrieved
13 April 2021.
4. "SES 17" (http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/ses-17.htm). Gunter's Space Page. 10 January
2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
 5. "SES enters Ka-band airline connectivity market with Thales Avionics as customer" (http://spac
enews.com/ses-enters-ka-band-airline-connectivity-market-with-thales-avionics-as-customer/).
SpaceNews. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
6. "Annual Report 2020" (https://www.ses.com/sites/default/files/2021-03/210305_SES-AR2020.p
df) (PDF). SES. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
7. "Thales and SES deliver the most efficient Ka-HTS aviation connectivity solution over the
Americas" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160914021304/https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worl
dwide/aerospace/press-release/thales-and-ses-deliver-most-efficient-ka-hts-aviation-connectivi
ty). Thales Alenia Space. 12 September 2016. Archived from the original (https://www.thalesgro
up.com/en/worldwide/aerospace/press-release/thales-and-ses-deliver-most-efficient-ka-hts-avi
ation-connectivity) on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
8. THALES ALENIA SPACE RELEASES FULLY DIGITAL SATELLITE TO ADDRESS FAST
MOVING MARKET NEEDS (https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/t
hales-alenia-space-releases-fully-digital-satellite-address-fast) Thales 9 October 2019
Accessed 25 February 2021
9. SES AND THALES UNVEIL NEXT-GENERATION CAPABILITIES ONBOARD SES-17 (http
s://www.ses.com/press-release/ses-and-thales-unveil-next-generation-capabilities-onboard-se
s-17) Thales 4 April 2017 Accessed 25 February 2021
10. SES' Satellites' Agility Achieved With ARC and Kythera Space Solutions (https://news.satnew
s.com/2020/11/24/ses-satellites-agility-achieved-by-working-with-kythera-space-solutions/)
SatNews, 24 November 2020, Accessed 31 March 2021
11. Our Connectivity Solutions - FlytLIVE (https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/connectivity-solutions)
Thales Accessed 25 February 2021
12. "SES to Enhance and Expand O3b mPOWER System Capabilities with Dynamic Software
Innovation" (https://www.ses.com/press-release/ses-enhance-and-expand-o3b-mpower-system
-capabilities-dynamic-software-innovation) (Press release). SES. 5 September 2019. Retrieved
31 March 2021.

External links
Official website (https://www.ses.com/news/ses-17-experience-endless-connectivity)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SES-17&oldid=1026254124"

This page was last edited on 1 June 2021, at 06:54 (UTC).

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