PARIS and BAIKONOUR,
Kazakhstan, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
The EUTELSAT 3D satellite of Eutelsat Communications (Euronext
Paris: ETL) arrived on April 13 at
the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and is now undergoing final
preparations for launch by a Proton Breeze M rocket supplied by
ILS. Lift-off is planned on May 14
from 16.02 GMT (18.02 CET) with spacecraft separation scheduled to
occur after a nine hour 13 minute flight.
Weighing 5.4 tons at lift-off, EUTELSAT 3D has been built for
Eutelsat by Thales Alenia Space using its established Spacebus 4000
platform. The satellite is designed to operate in orbit for 15
years.
With a baseline design equipping it to strengthen Eutelsat's
overall in-orbit flexibility and back-up from multiple orbital
slots, EUTELSAT 3D will initially be located at the 3° East orbital
position to address high-growth video, data, telecom and broadband
markets. Through its configuration of Ku and Ka transponders
connected to three footprints, the new satellite will serve
customers in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. A fourth service area in the
Ku-band will address markets in sub-Saharan Africa. EUTELSAT 3D
will operate at 3° East until the deployment of the EUTELSAT 3B
satellite to this position in 2014 to provide spectrum growth and
high levels of operational flexibility in C, Ku and Ka bands. It
will subsequently continue service at 7° East.
The launch will be videostreamed live on
http://www.eutelsat.com.
About Eutelsat Communications
(http://www.eutelsat.com)
Eutelsat Communications is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.
With capacity commercialised on 30 satellites delivering reach of
Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, Asia, significant parts of the Americas and
the Asia-Pacific, Eutelsat
Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is
one of the world's leading satellite operators. As of 31 December 2012 Eutelsat's satellites were
broadcasting 4,500 television channels to over 200 million cable
and satellite homes in Europe, the
Middle East and Africa. The Group's satellites also provide a
wide range of services for TV contribution, corporate networks and
fixed and mobile broadband markets. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ
over 780 commercial, technical and operational professionals from
30 countries.
SOURCE Eutelsat Communications
