AMC-18
AMC-18 is a geostationary Lockheed Martin A2100A communications satellite owned by SES Americom. It was launched on December 8, 2006 from Kourou aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle and is situated at 105° west longitude, providing coverage of North America with twenty-four C band transponders of 12-18 watts each. Future users in May 2007 include The CW Television Network, NASA TV and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, among other services.
AMC-18 is used by thousands of terrestrial radio stations for network feeds using ground equipment from Starguide, X-Digital Systems, Wegener and International Datacasting. Major tenants are Cumulus Media Networks Satellite Services, Skyview Networks, Orbital Media Networks, Premiere Radio Networks, Dial Global, Westwood One, Learfield Communications, The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show, etc.
The spacecraft can deliver and receive signals from 50 states, the Caribbean and Mexico and has been designated as the third HD-PRIME satellite.
Originally built as a ground spare to the AMC-10 and AMC-11 satellite program, AMC-18 is optimized for digital television distribution from the center of the U.S. orbital arc.
The satellite has an expected lifetime of at least 15 years.Transponder details
