COSPAR ID 1997-050A Speed on orbit 3.07 km/s Launch date 4 September 1997 Manufacturer Lockheed Martin | SATCAT no. 24936 Period 24 hours Rocket Atlas II | |
Mission duration Designed: 15 yearsElapsed: 19 years, 5 months, 13 days Similar AMC‑4, AMC‑6, AMC‑21, Anik F1, Nahuel 1A | ||
AMC-3 (formerly GE 3) is a commercial broadcast communications satellite owned by SES World Skies, part of SES S.A. (and formerly GE Americom, then SES Americom). Launched on September 4, 1997, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, AMC-3 is a hybrid C-band/Ku-band satellite. It provides coverage to North and Central Americas, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. Located in a geostationary orbit parallel to the Yucatán Peninsula and Great Lakes, AMC-3 provides service to commercial and government customers, with programming distribution, satellite news gathering and broadcast internet capabilities.
In January 2017, the AMC-3 Ku-band payload was sold to Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE), a provider of satellite-based connectivity and media to mobility markets, such as passenger aircraft. GEE purchased all the capacity on the satellite to support aeronautical customers, in particular Southwest Airlines, the company's largest customer, and rebranded the satellite as Eagle-1. The satellite will remain under the control of SES.