Launch Notification: SES-11 (ECHOSTAR 105)

New Launch: 2017 October 11, 2253 UTC

Site: Air Force Eastern Test Range, Florida, USA

Launcher: Falcon 9

International Designator(s): 2017-063A

SSC	Name	Owner
42967	SES-11 (ECHOSTAR 105)	SES

"Maintaining a brisk flight rate three days after its last launch, SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 booster powered by a reused first stage into orbit Wednesday evening from Florida with an Airbus-built communications satellite for SES and EchoStar.

"The successful launch placed the 5.7-ton (5.2-metric ton) satellite in a 'supersynchronous' orbit arcing thousands of miles above Earth, and the Falcon 9's first stage returned to landing on a football field-sized barge holding position around 200 miles (300 kilometers) east of Cape Canaveral."

"Owned by SES, the payload carried into orbit Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center will broadcast television programming, relay video for cable outlets, and support data services over the Americas during a mission expected to last at least 15 years.

"Luxembourg-based SES and Colorado-headquartered EchoStar Corp. will share the satellite's communications capacity in a 'condosat' arrangement announced in 2014. SES calls its portion of the spacecraft SES 11, and EchoStar named the mission EchoStar 105.

"The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 39A at the Florida spaceport at 6:53 p.m. EDT (2253 GMT) Wednesday after a textbook countdown, climbed into a clear evening sky just before sunset and turned on an easterly heading as it soared into the stratosphere.

"Nine Merlin 1D engines generated 1.7 million pounds [7.6 million N] of window-rattling thrust as the Falcon 9 rocket departed the Kennedy Space Center, chugging a super-chilled, densified mixture of RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen.

"The first stage's nine main engines shut down around two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. Moments later, the 14-story booster dropped away from the Falcon 9's second stage, then flipped around to fly tail first, setting up for a scorching re-entry from an altitude of 74 miles (119 kilometers)."

"A camera affixed to the Falcon 9's upper stage continued streaming live views from space as a vacuum-rated Merlin engine ignited two times to propel the SES 11/EchoStar 105 satellite into orbit.

"The spacecraft deployed from the launcher around 36 minutes into the mission as it flew off the east coast of Africa. Ground controllers received the first signals from the SES 11/EchoStar 105 satellite a few minutes later, and engineers confirmed it was operating normally.

"Publicly-available U.S. military tracking data indicated the satellite was released in an elliptical transfer orbit ranging in altitude between 195 miles (314 kilometers) and 25,181 miles (40,526 kilometers). The military's space surveillance network reported the satellite was orbiting at a tilt of 27.9 degrees to the equator.

"Over the next couple of weeks, the spacecraft's own liquid-fueled engine will conduct three apogee burns and one perigee burn at the high and low points of its orbit, eventually settling in a circular geostationary orbit 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) directly over the equator.

"The satellite's speed at that altitude will match the rate of Earth's rotation, and it will hover over an operating post at 105 degrees west longitude, entering commercial service by late November.

"SES will take charge of the satellite's 24 C-band transponders, and EchoStar will control 24 Ku-band transponders.

"SES will primarily use the satellite to relay video programming for cable channels.

"EchoStar says it will employ the relay station's Ku-band instruments for video distribution and data services for media companies, corporate customers, and the U.S. government and military over the United States, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

"The newest member of the SES and EchoStar fleets will replace the AMC 15 and AMC 18 satellites launched in 2004 and 2006."

"The roughly 11,500-pound (5,200-kilogram) satellite, built by Airbus Defense and Space, was originally supposed to launch about one year ago, according to Halliwell."

Source: Spaceflight Now, "SpaceX launches its 15th mission of the year"