Holland’s SES-6 satellite taken to orbit

Holland’s SES-6 telecommunication satellite, which was launched from Baikonur on Monday, at 04:49 Moscow time on Tuesday was taken to the orbit successfully. The Protom-M booster rocket was launched from the Baikonur space pad at 13:18 Moscow time on Monday. It is planned that the satellite will be put to orbit at 04:49 a.m. Moscow time, on June 4. The SES-6 satellite built by Astrium for SES World Skies will replace the NSS-806 and will provide a significant capacity expansion. The expanded Ku-band payload of SES-6 will offer a substantially enhanced coverage and capacity in North America, Central and South America. Based on a Eurostar E3000 model, the 6,100 kilogram satellite will have a design life of 15 years. The SES-6 launch was contracted by the Russian-U.S. company International Launch Services.