Eutelsat's expanding in-orbit resource

[BGonaSTICK]

With the launches in 2006 of HOT BIRD™ 7A and 8, Eutelsat has continued its strategy of redeploying freed satellites to new neighbourhoods to initate new commercial missions. Examples are 7 degrees West where ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4 serves video markets in North Africa and the Middle East, 4 degrees East with EUROBIRD™ 4, and 9 degrees East with EUROBIRD™ 9 for video broadcasting in Europe including to dual-feed antennas equipped for direct simultaneous reception of channels from Eutelsat's HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood.

The launch of five satellites from 2008, will provide the opportunity for Eutelsat to further extend this strategy by redeploying satellites to its other so far unused orbital locations such as 86 degrees East, which will in particular enable further geographic expansion to the East, and also to 48 degrees East where Eutelsat has already located a satellite over the last years.

Satellite: W2M, Launch date schedule: Sept.-Dec. 2008, Transponders: 26 Ku

Satellite: HOT BIRD™ 9, Launch date schedule: Jun.-Aug. 2008, Transponders: 64 Ku

Satellite: HOT BIRD™ 10, Launch date schedule: Jan.-Mar. 2009, Transponders: 64 Ku

Satellite: W2A, Launch date schedule: Jan.-Mar. 2009, Transponders: 46 Ku / 10 C / S

Satellite: W7, Launch date schedule: Jun.-Aug. 2009, Transponders: 70 Ku

Source: Eutelsat


EDITED to correct tp payload numbers. A/S

[nanochickin]

Any idea what position they are going to be taking up, although Hotbird 9 & 10 will be pretty obvious to most people

[wod]

Satellite: W2A, Launch date schedule: Jan.-Mar. 2009, Transponders: 26 Ku 46 Ku / 10 C / S

think that one will be for 16east

[BGonaSTICK]

Originally Posted by Eutelsat

The new (...W2M...) satellite is designed to provide additional security for customers and can be deployed at a number of orbital positions of the W satellite fleet, and in particular at the 10 degrees East position.

Originally Posted by Eutelsat

W2A will be operated at 10 degrees East with a state-of-the-art S-band payload which will be an essential building-block hybrid structure over Europe, combining satellite and terrestrial networks to provide both universal coverage and indoor penetration for mobile video services

Originally Posted by Eutelsat

To be launched in second quarter 2009 to Eutelsat's 36 degrees East location, W7 will double the capacity currently available at a key neighbourhood in the Group's fleet of geostationary satellites.

[wod]

interesting as i'm sure eutelsat w2 is due to be replaced sometime as sure its old now and had some faults on it thats probably why we get the not so good signal on it

[BGonaSTICK]

Yes, it's obviously not in the best of nick.

The above info is from the various press releases, but we all appreciate that things change, and they can usually move them around at the drop of a hat.

There may have been an update which I've missed!

Analoguesat will be back this weekend, and he can tell us what's really going on. He tends to know more than Eutelsat, and regularly rings them to point out the error of their ways (you think I'm joking?!?)

W2A is a special bird, that S-band kit will change the rules a tad...

[Analoguesat]

Just spotted this one.

Either 9 or 10 is scheduled to replace Hotbird 7A (and probably Hottie 6 although I havent seen any definite info about 6)

W2A will be a high power s band bird with a 12m S band reflector. SES & Eutelsat are cooperating to run trials with it. The S band kit will allow satellite delivered tv to cell phones.

BTW Ive had email replies from SES but Eutelsat ignore me

[Analoguesat]

heres some more info about the future birds:

W2M
Predicted to launch in 2008, W2M will operate typically 26 transponders in Ku-band and up to 32 depending on operational modes.

The satellite is designed to provide additional security for customers and can be deployed at a number of orbital positions of the W satellite fleet, and in particular at the 10 degrees East position. W2M, like all the other Eutelsat satellites in the W series, displays great flexibility to operate a wide range of services from television broadcasting to data networks and broadband.

The fixed beam will cover Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The steerable beam can be re-oriented in-orbit according to market requirements and notably towards Africa and central Asia, consolidating Eutelsat’s high levels of commercial flexibility.

HOT BIRD™ 9
The HOT BIRD™ 9 broadcast satellite will be launched in the third quarter of 2008 and positioned at the Group's premium video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East.

Designed to cover all 102 Ku-band transponders at the HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood, it will be able to substitute any transponder on any other HOT BIRD™ satellite. Its broad footprint and high emission power will enable digital and new HDTV channels as well as interactive services to be received by small DTH antennas and cable and community networks throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

W2A
Due for launch first quarter 2009, W2A will offer Ku-band capacity for video, broadband and telecommunications services in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and C-band capacity for services across Africa. It will also carry an S-band payload enabling the delivery, for the first time, of mobile multimedia broadcast services (mobile TV, digital radio, …) directly onto user terminals over key markets in western Europe.

The Ku-band payload will be connected to a fixed widebeam over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, providing capacity for business networks and broadcasting services. A second fixed beam will serve southern Africa and Indian Ocean islands. The C-band mission will provide pan-African coverage for broadband and telecommunications services.

The state-of-the-art S-band payload at 2.2 GHz will initiate the building of a hybrid infrastructure over Europe, combining satellite and terrestrial networks, providing both universal coverage and indoor penetration for Mobile TV services. W2A's S-band payload will also enable other communications services, such as security communications or crisis management.

HOT BIRD™ 10
The HOT BIRD™ 10 broadcast satellite will be launched in first quarter 2009 and positioned at the Group’s 13 degrees East location. Following HOT BIRD™ 8 and 9, it is the third high-power broadcast satellite based on Astrium’s Eurostar E3000 platform that will be located at Eutelsat’s premium video neighbourhood for cable and satellite broadcasting.

The procurement of HOT BIRD™ 10 underpins Eutelsat’s objectives to continue to renew capacity at its HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood, to raise in-orbit redundancy and security for broadcasting clients and to increase overall flexibility across its satellite fleet.

[nanochickin]

I would have thought they would have replaced W2 @16.0°e first since it appears to me to have more fully active transponders. Lets face it Other than some feeds theres kn0b all on 10°e really is there

Eutelsat must have something up their sleeve their not telling us about IMHO



Nano