Kourou, 16 December 2008 – Astrium is about to set a new record with the
launch of its sixth and seventh telecommunications satellites this year. The
two telecommunications satellites for Eutelsat – HOT BIRD™ 9 and W2M – are
ready for launch and are currently being integrated with the Ariane 5 ECA
rocket. The launch of the W2M satellite onboard an Ariane 5 ECA, designed and
built by Astrium, is the fulfillment of the first co-operation agreement in the
field of telecommunications satellites between Astrium and Antrix, the
commercial arm of ISRO.
HOT BIRD™ 9 is the second in a series of three identical
satellites that will form Eutelsat’s direct broadcast satellite system,
benefiting from a total redundancy of 102 repeaters, from the operator’s prime
position at 13°E. Broadcasting over 1100 TV channels to 120 million households,
the 13°E orbital location ranks number one in the world in terms of the number
of programmes broadcast. HOT BIRD™ 8, 9 and 10 each have 64 Ku-band
transponders – three times the capacity of the previous generation of HOT BIRD™
satellites, which were launched ten years ago. HOT BIRD™ 9 is the 40th
Eurostar satellite and the 15th satellite based on the Eurostar
E3000 platform, which first went into orbit in 2004. HOT BIRD™ 10 will be
launched onboard the first Ariane flight in 2009.
W2M is the first satellite built jointly by Astrium
and Antrix. Based on an I3K platform W2M comprises a payload equipped with up to
30 Ku-band transponders. It will operate from the 16°E position where it will
replace the W2 satellite which has been in operation since 1998. Offering almost 400 TV channels, 16°E is one
of the prime TV broadcast orbital positions for central and Western Europe, and
due to its steerable spot beam, a flagship location for the islands in the Indian Ocean. As with all satellites in the W family, W2M
is designed with flexibility in mind in order to offer a wide range of
broadcast and telecommunications services, as well as broadband access.
