Eutelsat Procures
Replacement Satellites for Its Flagship HOTBIRD
Neighbourhood at 13° East
November 19, 2018
Eutelsat Communications
(Paris:ETL) has ordered two new satellites from
Airbus Defence and Space to replace the three
existing HOTBIRD satellites at its 13° East
flagship neighbourhood. These all-electric
high-power satellites are set to enter into
service in 2022, serving Europe, the Middle East
and North Africa.
The new satellites will
reinforce and enhance the high quality of
broadcasting services provided to Eutelsat
customers on HOTBIRD, providing improved
performances over Western Europe and Poland.
Moreover, the satellites will offer advanced
features in terms of uplink signal protection
and resilience, as well as exceptional in-orbit
redundancy.
With a launch mass of 4.5
tonnes and an electric power of 22 kW, the
all-electric propulsion satellites will be based
on Airbus Defence and Space’s innovative
Eurostar Neo platform which will be produced,
along with their high-performance payloads, in
their UK facilities in Stevenage and Portsmouth
as well as in their French facility in Toulouse.
This state-of-the-art
technology enables Eutelsat to replace the
current constellation of three satellites by
two, further enhancing the capex optimization
achieved through the application of the
design-to-cost policy.
This procurement is fully
covered by the company’s existing capex budget.
Rodolphe Belmer, Chief
Executive Officer of Eutelsat, “We are delighted
to have secured replacement capacity for our
flagship HOTBIRD neighbourhood at 13° East,
which has played a part in developing TV
broadcasting formats since its creation and is a
cornerstone of our video strategy. These new
satellites have been specifically designed to
enhance the service we offer to our customers at
this key neighbourhood, while representing the
optimum solution in terms of capex efficiency.
We are once again entrusting this project to our
long-standing partner Airbus Defence and Space
who have already delivered 23 satellites for our
group.”