Following the launch and
entry into service of ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 at
7° West, Eutelsat will redeploy the ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A satellite currently at this
position to the Group’s premium broadcasting neighbourhood at 13° East, where
it will revert to its original name of HOT BIRD™ 10. Eutelsat has been
operating ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A at 7° West since March this year as part of
the first phase of boosting broadcasting capacity at this neighbourhood. Over 450
television channels already broadcast from 7° West to an audience of 38 million
homes.
By increasing the volume of Eutelsat’s operational Ku-band transponders at
7° West from 26 to up to 50, ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 will virtually double the Group’s
in-orbit resources at this position. This new capacity will be brought
into operation alongside the Nilesat 101 and 102 satellites operated by Nilesat,
which are scheduled to be joined in mid-2010 by Nilesat 201. Within the
framework of this collaboration the two companies have agreed to jointly brand
7° West as the “NILEBIRD” neighbourhood.
ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 will be based
on Astrium’s Eurostar E3000 platform. Optimised for high-growth broadcasting markets,
two beams will give superior coverage
across the Middle East, including Gulf states,
as well as North Africa and North-West Africa.
- Up to
44 Ku-band transponders will be connected to a broad high-power footprint serving
the Middle East and North Africa for Direct-to-Home
(DTH) broadcasting.
-
A second footprint for North-West Africa, across the
Maghreb countries and extending down to the Gulf of Guinea
will be connected to a payload of up to 12 Ku-band transponders designed for
consumer broadcasting services and equipped to meet high demand for Internet
access services.
Eutelsat Communications first announced the commissioning
of a new satellite for the 7° West neighbourhood in February on the occasion of
its first-half results for the 2008-2009 financial year. This satellite
forms part of the Group’s capital expenditure programme for 2008-2011, which
amounts to a total investment over the period of 450 million euros on average per
year.
ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 is
the 18th satellite ordered by Eutelsat from Astrium. Its scheduled in-orbit
lifetime exceeds 15 years.
ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 vital statistics
Platform:
Astrium Eurostar
E3000
Width with solar panels deployed: 33 m
Mass at launch: 4.6 tonnes
Power at end-of-life: 12 kW
Operational lifetime: 15 years +
About Astrium
Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing
civil and defence space systems and services. In 2008, Astrium had a turnover
of €4.3 billion and more than 15,000 employees in France,
Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain
and the Netherlands.
Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers
and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground
segment and Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2008,
EADS generated revenues of €43.3 billion and employed a workforce of more than
118, 000.
Press
contact:
Dan Mosely (Astrium UK) Tél. :
+44 (0)1 438 77 8180
www.astrium.eads.net
About Eutelsat Communications
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext
Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A. With
capacity on 27 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European
continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India
and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the
world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. At 31 December
2008, Eutelsat’s satellites were broadcasting more than 3,200 television
channels and 1,100 radio stations. Almost 1,100 channels broadcast via its HOT
BIRD™ video neighbourhood at 13° East which serves over 120 million cable and
satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North
Africa. The Group’s satellites also serve a wide range of fixed
and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate
networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for
transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary,
Skylogic, markets and operates services through its teleport in Italy that serves enterprises, local
communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia
and the Americas.
Headquartered in Paris,
Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ 591 commercial, technical and operational
experts from 28 countries.
www.eutelsat.com
