AMC-6, formerly GE-6, is a commercial broadcast communications satellite owned by SES Launched on 21 October 2000, from Baikonur CosmodromeinKazakhstan, AMC-6 became the fifth hybrid C-band / Ku-band satellite in the GE Americom fleet. The satellite provides coverage to the continental United States, Canada, the Caribbean islands, southern Greenland, and Latin America. Located in a geostationary orbit parallel to the eastern United States coastline, AMC-6 provides service to commercial and government customers, and is used as an Internet platform due to its wide coverage, scale and redundancy. Some of its capabilities include Very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) networking, satellite news gathering and Ku-band transceiver service.[5] Launched as GE-6, it was renamed AMC-6 when SES took over GE Americom in 2001, forming SES Americom. This merged with SES New Skies in 2009 to form SES World Skies.[6]
| Names | GE-6 (1997-2001) AMC-6 (2001-present) Rainbow 2 (2004-present) |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Communications[1] |
| Operator | GE Americom (2000-2001) SES Americom (2001-2009) SES World Skies (2009-2011) SES (2011-present) |
| COSPAR ID | 2000-067A  |
| SATCAT no. | 26580 |
| Website | AMC-6 website |
| Mission duration | 15 years (planned) 23 years, 9 months, 1 day (elapsed) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | GE-6 |
| Bus | A2100AX[2] |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
| Launch mass | 3,909 kg (8,618 lb) [3] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 21 October 2000, 22:00:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Proton-K / DM3[3] |
| Launch site | Baikonur, Site 81/23[1][3] |
| Contractor | Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit[4] |
| Regime | Geostationary orbit |
| Longitude | 72° West [5] |
| Transponders | |
| Band | 52transponders: 24C-band 28Ku-band |
| Frequency | 36MHz 72 MHz (4 Ku-band) |
| Coverage area | North America, Greenland, Latin America[5] |
|
← AMC-5
AMC-7 →
| |
Rainbow Media announced in November 2004, that it will utilize 16 transponders on the AMC-6 satellite, which VOOM refers to as Rainbow 2.[3]
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