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Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 1/97 HOT BIRD 2 FOR EUTELSAT REACHES ORBIT by Wolfgang Engelhardt The European communication satellite organization Eutelsat is extending its commercial service with a new TV satellite. Hot Bird 2 was launched on board a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 21, 1996 into a geostationary orbit. In a few weeks time, the new satellite will start operating from its position at 13* East. Hot Bird 2 is the first of a new generation of satellites with an improved performance as compared to earlier Eutelsat payloads. The satellite was built by the French-British company Matra Marconi Space and has an expected service time of 15 years. The project, including launch and ground segment, costs almost $ 200 million. Hot Bird 2 is the most efficient and also the largest communication satellite built in Europe so far. It weighs almost three tons and its two 30 meter wide solar cell paddles generate 6,5 kilowatts. This is the prerequisite for installing the electronic payload which consists of 20 super-transponders for signal amplification, each generating 115 Watts in the Ku frequency band. The system allows to send digital TV signals from an altitude of 36000 km directly to small satellite dishes of 40 to 60 cm in diameter, as well as, to collective receivers and cable end-stations. The transmission of the received and amplified TV signals is accomplished via two 2,3 m ldish aerials. The wide beams transmit TV programs for the entire Eurasian region, reaching from the Azores to Western Kazakhstan. The superbeam is pointing especially at Europe and Northern Africa. The satellite is also carrying two spot beams with small antennas, which can be pointed at certain geographic areas of the Earth to illuminate these for special TV transmission campaigns. A further three satellites of similar design as Hot Bird 2 will soon follow, giving the Eutelsat organization a total of 82 powerful transponders at the geostationary position 13* East. It will allow the transmission of 100 analogue and 800 digital TV channels for the Eurasian-African region. Thanks to this satellite investment, worth billions, Eutelsat and its 45 member states are ready to cope with the demands of the multimedia age and can also compete with the commercially operated Astra satellite system. The new satellites are aided by the older Eutelsat satellites which are supplying special services at the positions from 7* to 36* East, including the transmission of telephone data, as well as, computer and business data. According to a recent estimation concerning the reception of satellite TV in our region, 80 percent or 60 million European households will be able to receive their TV channels through the Eutelsat satellite network. From page 40 of FLUG REVUE 1/97 Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 1/97 Copyright 1996 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved. Last updated December 11, 1996