Digital Signage campaigns that involve running feeds of cable television stations may want to investigate SES AMERICOM for cable service. The company now has a second satellite in space in its HD-Prime premier cable neighborhood that transmits high-definition cable television throughout the company’s network across the country. The 2.5-ton high-definition television satellite was recently strapped to a Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket that was blasted from Cape Canaveral.
The Discovery channels, Lifetime Television, The Movie Channel, MTV, Nickelodeon, The Science Channel, Showtime, The Learning Channel, TV Land, VH1 and The Weather Channel are among the dozens of television networks who will be using the satellite for relay to cable companies. In total, the satellite will supply basic cable television to a large footprint of 80 million homes across America. The biggest customers of the satellite’s services will be Viacom and NBC, both of whom are preparing to offer high-definition versions of many standard cable networks.
Meanwhile, future satellite launches are about to get easier and faster for Lockheed Martin and SES AMERICOM. The 2AS rocket and its sister vehicles in the Atlas 2series – the Atlas 2 and 2A, respectively – will soon be retired in favor of the newer Atlas 5 rocket, which is expected to provide more reliability. Lockheed asserts that the Atlas 5 is more powerful, flexible and cost-effective. The Atlas 5 does away with such trappings as the launch tower, and can be rolled out to a nearly bare pad just 12 hours before launch. By comparison, the Atlas 2AS had spent about three months on the pad in preparation for its flight.
For more info: www.ses-americom.com or www.lockheedmartin.com.