SES 5

About This Satellite

SES-5 combines commercial communications with a hosted navigation-augmentation payload. Built by Space Systems/Loral on the SS/L 1300 platform, it was launched by Proton Breeze M from Baikonur. Its Ku-band beams were intended for television services in Africa and the Nordic and Baltic countries, while C-band capacity supported communications across Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

July 9 and July 10 describe the same launch in different time zones

ILS records liftoff at 18:38 GMT on July 9, 2012, equivalent to 00:38 local time on July 10. This catalog uses the UTC date, July 9. Separation followed nine hours and twelve minutes later, so the launch and spacecraft-separation dates also differ in UTC.

The launcher delivered a transfer orbit, not an instant service

Breeze M performed a sequence of maneuvers culminating in geostationary transfer orbit. That delivery milestone was separate from subsequent positioning and payload qualification. The hosted L-band navigation payload likewise should not be confused with the C-band and Ku-band commercial communications capacity.

Mission reference: ILS: SES-5 launch timing, transfer orbit and communications payloads. Editorial review: 2026-09-15.

EGNOS supplements GPS instead of replacing its constellation

EUSPA's September 2015 announcement records SES-5 entering the EGNOS operational platform after ground and space testing. EGNOS distributes corrections and integrity information for GPS: the receiver gains information about positioning errors and signal trustworthiness. SES-5 thus supports navigation without being a GPS constellation spacecraft. The announcement described replacement of Inmarsat 4F2 and preparation for later system evolution, not immediate availability of every future service.

Reference: EUSPA, September 2015: SES-5 EGNOS qualification and correction service.

The 2026 extension includes equipment on the ground

On January 28, 2026, SES announced extension of the EGNOS GEO-1 service agreement through 2030, with an option to extend until 2032. The agreement covers the hosted payload on SES-5 and a ground segment operated from European facilities. This is a dated service commitment, not a guarantee that every user will receive uninterrupted signals or that the optional extension has already been exercised.

Reference: SES, January 2026: EGNOS GEO-1 contract extension and ground segment.

Reading this orbital snapshot

Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 35,778 km at perigee to 35,795 km at apogee, a difference of 17 km. The orbital period is about 1436.1 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00020 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 0.05 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 0.0 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 38652 · GCAT: S38652 (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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