AMC-4

AMC-4
Spacecraft properties
Names	GE-4 (1999-2001) AMC-4 (2001-present)

Mission type	Communications^[1]
Operator	GE Americom (1999-2001) SES Americom (2001-2009) SES World Skies (2009-2011) SES (2011-present)
COSPAR ID	1999-060A
SATCAT no.	25954
Website	SES-AMERICOM AMC-4
Mission duration	15 years (planned) ^[2]^[3] 24 years, 6 months, 10 days (elapsed)


Spacecraft	GE-4
Spacecraft type	Lockheed Martin A2100
Bus	LM A2100AX
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin
Launch mass	3,895 kg (8,587 lb) ^[2]


Start of mission
Launch date	13 November 1999, 22:54 UTC
Rocket	Ariane 44LP H10-3 (V123) ^[2]
Launch site	Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELA-2^[1]^[2]
Contractor	Arianespace
Entered service	2000


Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Geostationary orbit
Longitude	134.9° West ^[3]


Transponders
Band	52 transponders: 24 C-band 28 Ku-band^[3]
Frequency	36 MHz 72 MHz (4 Ku-band)
Coverage area	North America, Latin America, Caribbean^[3]

SES constellation ← AMC-3 AMC-5 →

AMC-4 (formerly GE-4) is a commercial broadcast communications satellite owned by SES World Skies, part of SES (and formerly GE Americom, then SES Americom). Launched in 1999, from Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELA-2 by Ariane 44LP H10-3. It provides coverage to North America, Latin America, Caribbean. Located in a geostationary orbit, AMC-4 provides service to commercial and government customers, with programming distribution, satellite news gathering and broadcast internet capabilities.^[3]

AMC-4 was launched on 13 November 1999 at 22:54 UTC as GE-4, GE Americom's fourth A2100 hybrid C-band and Ku-band satellite. The C-band payload was home to national television networks broadcasting to thousands of cable television headends. AMC-4's Ku-band transponders served the direct-to-home (DTH), VSAT, business television and broadband Internet market segments. These Ku-band transponders are designed to be switchable between North and South American coverages.^[3] It was renamed AMC-4 after GE Americom was bought by SES and re-branded SES Americom. In 2009, SES Americom merged with SES New Skies to form SES World Skies. AMC-4 has been replaced by SES-1 in 2010. AMC-4 has been moved to 134.9° West, and currently has no FTA signals.

Transponder data

Transponders	C-band	Ku-band
Number of transponders and frequency	24 x 36 MHz	24 x 36 MHz; 4 x 72 MHz
Amp type	SSPA, 20 watts	TWTA, 110 watts
Amp redundancy:	16 for 12	18 for 14
Receiver redundancy:	4 for 2	4 for 2
Coverage:	North America, Latin America, Caribbean
Beacon:	3700.5 MHz (V), 4199.5 MHz (H)	11702 MHz (H), 12198 MHz (V)
Typical Footprint · Frequency Plan

References

^ ^a ^b "Display: GE 4 1999-060A". NASA. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Krebs, Gunter (12 April 2019). "GE 4, 6 / AMC 4, 6 / Rainbow 2". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "AMC-4". SES. Retrieved 2 April 2021.

Satellites operated by SES

SES fleet

Active: SES-1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 (EchoStar 105)
12
14
15
16 (GovSat-1)
17

AMC fleet

Active: AMC-4
6
8
10
11
15
16
18
21
Backups: AMC-7
Retired: AMC-1
2
3
5
9
Failed launch: AMC-14

NSS fleet

Active: NSS-6
7
9
10
11
12
806
Retired: NSS-5
513
703
K
Failed launch: NSS-8

Astra fleet

Active: Astra 1KR
1L
1M
1N
2E
2F
2G
3B
4A
5B
Backups: Astra 1D
1F
1G
1H
2A
2B
2C
2D
3A
Retired: Astra 1A
1B
1C
1E
5A
Sirius 3
Failed launch: Astra 1K
Orbital positions: 5.0°E
19.2°E
23.5°E
28.2°E
31.5°E
Subsidiary: SES Astra

Third parties

v t e ← 1998 Orbital launches in 1999 2000 →
January	Mars Polar Lander ROCSAT-1
February	Stardust Globalstar 23, Globalstar 36, Globalstar 38, Globalstar 40 Telstar 6 JCSAT-6 Soyuz TM-29 ARGOS, Ørsted, SUNSAT Arabsat 3A, Skynet 4E Globus No.15
March	Wide Field Infrared Explorer Globalstar 23, Globalstar 37, Globalstar 41, Globalstar 46 AsiaSat 3S DemoSat
April	Progress M-41, Sputnik 99 INSAT-2E USA-142 Eutelsat W3 Globalstar 19, Globalstar 42, Globalstar 44, Globalstar 45 Landsat 7 UoSAT-12 Ikonos-1 ABRIXAS, Megsat-0 USA-143
May	Orion 3 Feng Yun 1C, Shijian 5 TERRIERS, MUBLCOM Nimiq 1 USA-144 Oceansat-1, Kitsat-3, DLR-Tubsat STS-96 (Starshine 1)
June	Globalstar 25, Globalstar 47, Globalstar 49, Globalstar 52 Iridium 14A, Iridium 21A Astra 1H QuikSCAT FUSE
July	Gran' No.45 Molniya 3-50 Globalstar 30, Globalstar 32, Globalstar 35, Globalstar 51 Progress M-42 Okean-O No.1 STS-93 (Chandra) Globalstar 26, Globalstar 28, Globalstar 43, Globalstar 48
August	Telkom 1, Globalstar 24, Globalstar 27, Globalstar 53, Globalstar 54 Kosmos 2365 Kosmos 2366
September	Koreasat 3 Yamal-101, Yamal-102 Foton 12 Globalstar 33, Globalstar 50, Globalstar 55, Globalstar 58 EchoStar V Ikonos 2 Telstar 7 LMI-1 Resurs F-1M
October	USA-145 DirecTV-1R CBERS-1, SACI-1 Globalstar 31, Globalstar 56, Globalstar 57, Globalstar 59 Orion 2 Ekspress A1
November	GE-4 MTSAT-1 Shenzhou 1 Globalstar 29, Globalstar 34, Globalstar 39, Globalstar 61 USA-146
December	Hélios 1B, Clémentine Orbcomm FM30, Orbcomm FM31, Orbcomm FM32, Orbcomm FM33, Orbcomm FM34, Orbcomm FM35, Orbcomm FM36 XMM-Newton † VLS-1 V02 (SACI-2) USA-147 Terra STS-103 Arirang-1, ACRIMSAT, Millennial Galaxy 11 Kosmos 2367 Kosmos 2368
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).