SES has announced that its SES-10 telecommunications satellite is now fully operational at 67 degrees West and ready to serve the Latin America region. The multi-mission spacecraft is the first SES satellite wholly dedicated to providing service to Latin America and has a Ku-band payload of 55 36MHz transponder equivalents, of which 27 are incremental. SES said the satellite’s beams will augment its capabilities across the region and will provide direct-to-home broadcasting, enterprise and mobility services to Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. In that regard, SES has already signed an agreement with the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) to use the satellite to provide capacity for Simon Bolivar network.
SES-10 was launched on 30 March from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida onboard a reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, marking the first time in the history of space flight that the same rocket has been used on two separate missions to orbit.