Stray boat causes further delay to SES-9 launch


Details

Joseph O'Halloran

| 29 February 2016




Only minutes from its latest scheduled blast-off time, SpaceX has had to cancel once again the launch of the SES-9 satellite.



SpaceX called a halt to proceedings after what it called a ‘range safety issue’. That is the US Air Force placed a hold on the launch due to a boat entering the keep out zone. In its latest statement SpaceX said that the launch team had ‘called a scrub’ for the day and that the vehicle and spacecraft were healthy. There has been no official response from SES.

The craft was originally set for launch late in 2015 from Cape Canaveral and after a number of revisions to mission parameters was rescheduled for a 24 February take off. The countdown was then further held off until 28 February.

Built by Boeing Satellite Systems, SES-9 is designed to operate for 15 years in geosynchronous orbit with a 12.7kw payload and 57 Ku-band transponders. Once in orbit at 108.2° East, SES-9 is intended to broaden SES’s global video capabilities to serve markets such as South Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines. It is charged with providing both replacement and incremental capacity in the premium video neighbourhood over Asia which already serves over 22 million households.

The delay mars what has been a bright past few days for the satellite operator. On 26 February 2016, the company announced that for its 2015 financial year ending 31 December 2015 it had posted revenue of €2,014 billion and EBITDA of €1.494 billion, both up 5% at constant currency exchange over the prior year. The video business grew 2.2% at constant FX while HDTV annual growth was 18.3% year on year. SES claimed the industry’s strongest HDTV penetration at 30.7% and said that it ended the year with eight Ultra HD channels.

The company also announced that leading provider of global digital media services to the broadcast and media industries RR Media will merge its operations with those of SES Platform Services (SES PS), to create a global media solutions provider.