SUPERBIRD 6 is the third Boeing satellite built for Space Communications Corporation (SCC), a Japanese satellite communications service company. SUPERBIRD is the name of a series of high-performance communications satellites owned and operated by SCC. SUPERBIRD-6 was launched April 15, 2004 on an Atlas IIAS launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral AS, Florida. It provides business telecommunication services to Japan in Ku-Band and Ka-Band, and will provide additional Ka-Band services using a Steerable Spot Beam. The satellite has a payload of 23 active Ku-Band transponders and four Ka-Band transponders.