Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), the world's leading provider of commercial satellites, has announced that the SES-4 satellite, designed and built for SES, is successfully performing post-launch maneuvers.

The satellite deployed its solar arrays yesterday following its launch on Tuesday aboard a Proton Breeze M launch vehicle, provided by International Launch Services (ILS), from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. Later [today], it will fire its main thruster in order to begin maneuvering into geosynchronous orbit.

"As the most powerful satellite in the SES fleet, SES-4 will provide new, state-of-the-art satellite capacity across three continents," said Martin Halliwell, Chief Technology Officer of SES.

"This is our second SS/L-built satellite to launch in the last six months, and we continue to work closely with SS/L on another important addition to our fleet, which is scheduled to launch later this year."

SES-4 is a C- and Ku-band satellite designed to provide Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) to the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

With approximately 20-kW end-of-life power, it is based on the decades-proven SS/L 1300 platform, which has the flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technology advances. When the satellite completes in-orbit testing, it will replace NSS-7 at 338 degrees East longitude.

"Space Systems/Loral and SES share a commitment to excellent service and reliability," said John Celli, President of Space Systems/Loral. "With the launch of SES-4, there are now three SS/L-built satellites in the SES fleet, where they provide much needed communications and entertainment services across numerous regions."

SES-4 is SS/L's seventh 20-kilowatt satellite to be placed into orbit. It has more transponders than any other satellite in the SES fleet with 52 C-band and 72 Ku-band transponders. With this launch, there are 67 SS/L-built 1300 platform satellites currently in orbit.

SES is a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of 50 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide.

SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the broadcasting industry. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements.