AMC-18 ^[1]

Spacecraft design:	Lockheed Martin A2100
Orbital location:	105° W Longitude
Launch Date:	8 December 2006
Vehicle:	Ariane 5
Design Life:	15 years

C-band payload: 24 x 36 MHz

Amp type	SSPA, 20 watts
Amp Redundancy:	16 for 12
Receiver redundancy:	4 for 2
Coverage:	50 state, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean

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 and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, among other services.

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.^[2]

The satellite has an expected lifetime of at least 15 years.

References []

External links []

• AMC-18 information at LyngSat
• AMC-18 footprint(s) at SatBeams
• SES Americom