SES 6

About This Satellite

SES-6 was designed to expand television and communications capacity in the Americas and across the Atlantic. Its planning brochure distinguishes C-band cable-distribution capacity from Ku-band services such as direct-to-home television and VSAT networks. Multiple regional beams, rather than a single uniform footprint, are central to understanding the satellite.

One orbital slot can support several different coverage patterns

The brochure labels distinct Brazil, Andean, Southern Cone, North America and Atlantic Ku-band beams, alongside C-band hemispheric coverage. Its 319.5-degree east longitude is equivalent to 40.5 degrees west. Beam selection matters: appearing within a broad geographic service region does not make all payload capacity available at that location.

Equivalent transponders are a bandwidth convention

SES specifies 43 C-band and 48 Ku-band transponders in 36 MHz equivalents, with circular C-band and linear Ku-band polarization. The equivalent count should not be presented as an inventory of identical physical units. This prelaunch brochure documents design intent, not a current channel list or payload-health report.

Mission reference: SES-6 planning brochure: separate beams, polarization and equivalent capacity. Editorial review: 2026-09-15.

Use the completed launch record, not the brochure forecast

The planning brochure forecast a first-quarter 2013 launch. SES's annual report instead records the completed ILS Proton launch on June 3, 2013 and identifies Brazilian telecommunications group Oi as the anchor customer. This profile uses that actual date. Keeping a forecast separate from the achieved milestone prevents an old marketing document from silently becoming the catalog's launch history.

Reference: SES Annual Report 2013: SES-6 completed launch and Oi anchor customer.

Commercial service followed in-orbit testing

A July 29, 2013 SES release, preserved in the French regulatory-publication archive, announces completion of in-orbit testing and commercial service at 40.5 degrees west. It describes replacement of NSS-806 and expansion of C-band video distribution in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its June 4 launch wording conflicts with the June 3 date in the annual report; the catalog retains the latter and uses this release for the service milestone.

Reference: SES July 29, 2013 release: service entry following in-orbit tests.

The Brazilian customer planned a different television offering

Oi's June 2013 announcement describes using SES-6 to expand its high-definition channel offering and customer-interaction features. It explains the household-distribution role of direct-to-home television, without requiring a fibre connection to each receiving home. This is evidence of the customer's launch-era plans, not confirmation that the same subscription products or commercial arrangements remain available today.

Reference: Oi, June 2013: planned SES-6 direct-to-home television expansion.

Reading this orbital snapshot

Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 35,779 km at perigee to 35,795 km at apogee, a difference of 16 km. The orbital period is about 1436.1 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00019 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 0.04 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 39172 · GCAT: S39172 (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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