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First of two new U.S. cable TV satellites set for launch BY JUSTIN RAY SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: February 4, 2004 Some of the most popular television channels will reach millions of Americans via a new broadcasting satellite that goes up Thursday aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket. Launch of the AMC-10 spacecraft is scheduled for 5:56 p.m. EST (2256 GMT) from pad 36A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The evening's launch window extends 70 minutes to 7:06 p.m. EST (0006 GMT).
The AMC-10 satellite will replace the aging Satcom C-4 broadcasting craft when it enters full service by early-May. That will be followed by the launch of sister-satellite AMC-11 in mid-May atop another Atlas 2AS rocket to replace Satcom C-3. The Satcom satellites, and soon the advanced AMC-10 and 11, serve as the vital relay stations high above Earth to route dozens of TV networks to cable subscribers across the United States. Networks that will use AMC-10 and 11 include the Animal Planet, CMT, Comedy Central, Court TV, C-SPAN, numerous Discovery channels, E!, Flix, Hallmark Channel, Home & Garden, Home Shopping Network, iN DEMAND, Lifetime, The Movie Channel, MTV, Nickelodeon, Oxygen, PAX TV, Showtime, Spike TV, Style, Sundance, Tech TV, The Learning Channel, Travel Channel, TV Land, TV Guide Networks, VH-1 and The Weather Channel. The satellites are headed for geostationary orbit where they will match Earth's rotation and appear parked above one spot of the globe. AMC-10 fills the slot at 135 degrees West longitude and AMC-11 is destined for 131 degrees West.
SES AMERICOM of Princeton, New Jersey, will operate the craft, adding the new satellites to its fleet of 11 in orbit today. "SES AMERICOM pioneered the distribution of cable programming via satellite and we are reinforcing our leadership with this state-of-the-art satellite designed with our customer's next generation services in mind," Dean Olmstead, SES AMERICOM's president and CEO, said in advance of the AMC-10 launch. The Satcoms are being relieved of duty because their fuel supplies are dwindling and satellite technology has evolved since they were built more than a decade ago. "One of the things that we all monitor on a constant basis is the amount of fuel that is being utilized to keep the satellite in its box, its orbital slot. So that certainly is one of the drivers," said Monica Morgan, spokeswoman SES AMERICOM. "The other driver is that the opportunity to bring a higher quality of service to our customers presented itself with this state-of-the-art increase in power and design in the satellite. We are actually doing it a little bit early because we had that opportunity." A Delta 2 rocket launched Satcom C-4, which AMC-10 will replace, in August 1992. An Ariane 4 rocket lofted Satcom C-3 in September 1992. Future plans for the Satcoms have not been finalized, Morgan said. They could be redeployed or simply retired.
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VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION PREVIEW OF THIS LAUNCH