Satellite's fate
SES Americom told its insurers that the AMC-14 was a total loss because it was in the wrong orbit and could not be moved into correct orbit, according to Thomson Financial. The satellite was fully insured for about US$150 million, so SES would not incur a loss. Officials stated that they had evaluated several options for recovering the marooned satellite. Saving AMC-14 would have used much of the satellite's operational maneuvering propellant, significantly reducing its useful life from the 15-year expectation before launch.[10]
On 23 April 2008, it was reported that SES was in talks with a United States Department of Defense agency, presumably the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) (the agency that operates satellites for the DoD), over purchasing the satellite.[11] SES has received several other bids, including one from Echostar, have been received. Most of the commercial companies were intending to use the Lunar flyby trajectory option to correct the orbital inclination of the satellite, while the U.S. DoD planned to leave the satellite in an inclined orbit.[11] SES preferred the DoD bid, as they did not want a customer to prove to insurers that the lunar flyby option would have resulted in a commercially viable service life.[11] There were some concerns over the legality of a purchase by the U.S. Government, under the 1998 Commercial Space Act.[12]
In anticipation of the U.S. Government's offer being viewed as illegal, an independent European/Asian investment group made a counteroffer to the insurers that called for a minimum upfront cash payment of US$15 million with the intention of returning the satellite to a geosynchronous orbit using the lunar flyby mission and thereafter providing commercial services. Negotiations were slow to start in spite of the alternative US$10 million purchase proposal from the U.S. Government which was 33% lower than the improved offer from the European/Asian investment group.
The first signs of an orbital adjustment maneuver became evident one day after SES announced it was in sales negotiations on 24 April 2008, when the satellite's perigee rose by about 56 km to 777 km along with a slight rise in apogee to 35572 km.[13] Also, for comparison, at the time inclination was 48.989°, and it had an orbital period of 638.12 minutes. As of 6 August 2008, AMC-14 orbit is vastly different. The inclination has dropped to 17.7°.[2]
As of 29 January 2009, after more than 6 months of low-thrust maneuvering, AMC-14 had finally reached an inclined (13.1°) geosynchronous orbit at 34.8° East [2][14] under U.S. DoD ownership.[15]
