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'Eutelsat S.A.' is a French-based satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.
Eutelsat’s satellites are used for broadcasting over 2,500 television and 1000 radio stations to more than 164 million cable and satellite homes. They also serve requirements for TV contribution services, corporate networks, mobile positioning and communications, Internet backbone connectivity and broadband access for terrestrial, maritime and in-flight applications. Eutelsat is headquartered in Paris.
Its main craft have traditionally operated from 4 positions, each separated by three degrees of the Clarke belt - 7, 10, 13 and 16°E; although more positions are now operated.

Contents

Satellites

Planned future satellites

Rented capacity

Former satellites

Services

History

External links

Satellites

Eutelsat commercialises capacity on 23 satellites located in geosynchronous orbit between 15 degrees West and 70.5 degrees East.

Satellite	Location	Regions served	Launch
Hot Bird 6	13° East	Europe, North Africa, Middle East	Aug. 2002
Hot Bird 7A	13° East	Europe, North Africa, Middle East	March 2006
Hot Bird 8	13° East	Europe, North Africa, Middle East	Aug. 2006
Eurobird 1	28.5° East	Europe	March 2001
Eurobird 2	25.5° East	Europe, North Africa, Middle East	Oct. 1998
Eurobird 3	33° East	Europe	Sept. 2003
Eurobird 4 former Hot Bird 3	4° East	Europe, North Africa, Middle East	Sept. 1997
Eurobird 9 former Hot Bird 2	9° East	Europe, North Africa, Middle East	Nov. 1996
W1	10° East	Europe, Middle East, Africa	Sept. 2000
W2	16° East	Europe, Middle East, Africa	Oct. 1998
W3A	7° East	Europe, Middle East, Africa	March 2004
W4	36° East	Africa, Russia	May 2000
W5	70.5° East	Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia	Nov. 2002
W6	21.5° East	Europe, Middle East, Africa	Apr. 1999
SESAT 1	36° East	Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Asia	Apr. 2000
Atlantic Bird 1	12.5° West	Europe, Middle East, Americas	Aug. 2002
Atlantic Bird 2	8° West	Europe, Middle East, Americas	Sept. 2001
Atlantic Bird 3	5° West	Europe, Americas, Africa	Jul. 2002
Atlantic Bird 4 former Hot Bird 4	7° West	Europe, North Africa, Middle East	Feb. 1998

Planned future satellites

W2M	10° East	Europe, Africa, Middle East	2008
W2A	16° East	Europe, Africa, Middle East	2009
W7	36° East	Europe, Africa, Middle East, Russia	2009
Hot Bird 9	13° East	Europe, Africa, Middle East	2008
Hot Bird 10	13° East	Europe, Africa, Middle East	2009

Rented capacity

Telecom 2D	8° West	Europe	Aug. 1996
Telstar 12	15° West	Europe, Americas	Oct. 1999
Express A3	11° West	Europe, North Africa, Middle East	Jun. 2000
Express AM22 (SESAT 2)	53° East	Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Asia	Dec. 2003

Former satellites

Satellite	Primary position	Comments
1F1	13°E	Launched 1983, inclined 1989, retired 1996
1F2	7°E	Launched 1984, inclined 1990, retired 1993
1F4	13°/7°E	Launched 1987, inclined 1993, retired 2002
1F5	10°E	Launched 1988, inclined 1994, de-orbited 2000
2F1	13°E	Launched 1990, inclined 1999, retired 2003
2F2	10°E	Launched 1991, inclined 2000, retired 2005
2F3	16°E	Launched 1991, inclined 2000, retired 2004
2F4	7°E	Launched 1992, inclined 2001, retired 2003
Hot Bird 1	13°E	Launched 1995, retired 2006

Services

Video Applications	Professional Data Networks	Broadband Services
Direct broadcasting of TV and radio	Private networks	IP backbone connectivity
Cable distribution	Data broadcasting	Virtual Private Networks
Satellite newsgathering	Business TV, videoconferencing	Broadband access on ground, at sea, in-flight
Programme exchanges	Mobile services (messaging, positioning)	Multicasting and IP content distribution

History

The 'European Telecommunications Satellite Organization' (Eutelsat) was originally set up in 1977 as an intergovernmental organisation (IGO) to develop and operate a satellite-based telecommunications infrastructure for Europe. It started operations with the launch of its first satellite in 1983.
Initially established to address satellite communications demand in Western Europe, Eutelsat rapidly developed its infrastructure to expand coverage to additional markets, such as Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, and the Middle East, the African continent, and large parts of Asia and the Americas from the 1990s.
Eutelsat was the first satellite operator in Europe to broadcast television channels direct-to-home. It developed its premium neighbourhood of five Hot Bird satellites in the mid-1990s to offer capacity that would be able to attract hundreds of channels to the same orbital location, appealing to widespread audiences for consumer satellite TV.
With the general liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in Europe, the IGO’s operations and activities were transferred to a private company called Eutelsat S.A. in July 2001.
In April 2005, the principal shareholders of Eutelsat S.A. grouped their investment in a new entity (Eutelsat Communications), which is now the holding company of the Group owning 95.2% of Eutelsat S.A. on October 6th, 2005.

External links

★ Official website