SES 8

About This Satellite

SES-8 launched from Cape Canaveral on December 3, 2013 on the first Falcon 9 mission to geostationary transfer orbit. SES's annual report describes it as additional capacity for Asia-Pacific markets. The flight connected a commercial communications project with an important new capability for its launch provider.

Transfer orbit was a delivery stage, not the final broadcast position

The operator explicitly describes insertion into geostationary transfer orbit. This should not be rewritten as direct delivery to an operational geostationary slot. The distinction matters when comparing launch-era orbital elements with a later operational orbit: they can describe different stages of the same mission.

The launch milestone was about access to space

SES highlighted the mission as bringing another launch supplier into the commercial satellite market. That was a historical industry milestone, not a claim that SES-8 alone invented geostationary communications. Nor does launch success establish that customer traffic began flowing on the same day.

Mission reference: SES Annual Report 2013: SES-8 launch date and first Falcon 9 GTO mission. Editorial review: 2026-09-15.

Commercial service followed in-orbit testing

SES's first-half 2014 financial report states that SES-8 and ASTRA 2E completed in-orbit testing and entered service at the beginning of February 2014. This is a separate milestone from SES-8's December launch. Keeping both dates lets readers distinguish a spacecraft that has reached orbit from one whose operator has accepted it for service.

Reference: SES first-half 2014 report: SES-8 testing completion and February service entry.

A nine-transponder agreement supported Indian television distribution

On July 29, 2021, SES announced a capacity agreement with NewSpace India Limited for nine SES-8 transponders at 95 degrees east, supporting direct-to-home television in India. The announcement identifies a particular commercial use, not a list of individual channels. It is retained here as a dated mission milestone, not a guarantee that the same contract, transponders, or channel lineup remain available today.

Reference: SES (2021): SES-8 capacity agreement with NewSpace India Limited.

Reading this orbital snapshot

Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 35,778 km at perigee to 35,796 km at apogee, a difference of 18 km. The orbital period is about 1436.1 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00021 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 39460 · GCAT: S39460 (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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