SES 1

About This Satellite

SES-1 was built by Orbital Sciences to renew communications capacity at 101 degrees west for North American users. Its planned role combined enterprise and government networks with television distribution, including the SES HD-PRIME neighbourhood. The spacecraft introduced the SES name into a fleet that already included AMC and NSS satellites.

Two frequency bands supported different customer networks

The launch advisory specifies 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders. It describes services for networks of VSAT terminals as well as high-definition video distribution. A transponder count describes relay capacity; it is not a count of television channels, since the services carried depend on how operators use that capacity.

Replacing capacity did not require discarding both older spacecraft

SES-1 was intended to replace AMC-2 and AMC-4 at the same orbital neighbourhood. That describes a service transition rather than a collision, merger of satellites or automatic retirement of both predecessors. The resulting fleet movements are documented separately in the operator's subsequent reports.

Mission reference: ILS SES-1 mission advisory: payload, North American role and replacement plan. Editorial review: 2026-09-15.

The completed launch record distinguishes delivery from the final slot

ILS records launch on April 24, 2010 at 11:19 GMT and separation at 20:17 GMT, about eight hours and fifty-eight minutes later. Its mission page labels a predicted circular separation altitude of 33,871 kilometres. That is a stated target below geostationary altitude, not a measured final operating orbit at 101 degrees west. The page lists a separated spacecraft mass of 2,561 kilograms, which should not be confused with dry mass.

Reference: ILS SES-1 completed mission record: timing, separated mass and predicted delivery orbit.

Commercial service began after the April launch

SES's half-year 2010 presentation records SES-1 entering service in June. The launch and service dates therefore describe different milestones. The presentation also reports fleet-wide capacity growth, but that aggregate increase includes other spacecraft and should not be assigned entirely to SES-1. An orbital insertion alone does not prove that customer traffic had already transferred.

Reference: SES half-year 2010 results: June service entry and fleet-level capacity reporting.

AMC-4 could be reassigned after the replacement arrived

In its third-quarter 2010 report, SES states that AMC-4 moved to 67 degrees west following SES-1's arrival at 101 degrees west. There it brought the Andean Community nations' frequency spectrum into commercial use. This is a concrete example of fleet redeployment: a new satellite renewed one location while an older spacecraft served another. It is historical evidence, not a current assignment or availability listing.

Reference: SES third-quarter 2010 report: AMC-4 redeployment after SES-1.

Reading this orbital snapshot

Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 35,776 km at perigee to 35,797 km at apogee, a difference of 21 km. The orbital period is about 1436.1 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00025 indicates a nearly circular path. In a two-body approximation, perigee speed is 1.00 times apogee speed. These are mean-element estimates, not instantaneous measurements. Distance per orbit uses an ellipse approximation.

Saved build snapshot. If a valid TLE is retrieved, this explanation and the orbit panel update together. Otherwise this dated snapshot is retained.

Ground track is not sensor coverage

An inclination of 0.06 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 0.1 degrees north and south. This is a prograde orbit, moving in the same general direction as Earth rotation. The plotted line marks the point beneath the object. It does not represent camera coverage, radio reception, or a guaranteed visible pass.

Is it fixed above one longitude?

The snapshot period is 1436.1 minutes. A sidereal day is about 1,436.07 minutes. Height alone does not establish a geostationary orbit: the period must match Earth rotation and the path must be circular and equatorial. This catalog uses a five-minute period tolerance for near-geosynchronous labels; near-geostationary additionally requires inclination at most 1 degree and eccentricity at most 0.01. These are browsing categories, not evidence of station-keeping or a fixed longitude.

Accuracy and missing information

The introductory record describes the build snapshot. The orbital snapshot explanation and orbit panel share any successfully retrieved TLE; check the displayed epoch. Reentered objects retain historical data only. Mission history is not rewritten by TLE updates. TLE/SGP4 positions are predictions and can change after maneuvers or updated observations. The 14-day stale-data cutoff is a display safeguard, not an accuracy guarantee. Local passes are geometric predictions, not a visibility forecast. No verified operator or mission status means unknown, not active. Do not use this catalog for collision avoidance or operational flight decisions.

Catalog sources: CelesTrak SATCAT: NORAD 36516 · GCAT: S36516 (source update 2026 Sep 4 2345:57). Supplementary metadata: SatNOGS DB, retrieved 2026-09-05T12:57:25.375Z. Page assembled 2026-09-15. GCAT phase codes describe trajectory phases, not mission health.

Learn more: TLE data · Perigee and apogee · Ground tracks · JOT (Jewawud Live Orbital Map)

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