Eutelsat
Encyclopedia
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 3,800 television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and 1100 radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 stations to over 200 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. Eutelsat Communications Chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 is Michel de Rosen
Michel de Rosen
Michel de Rosen is the CEO of Eutelsat Communications and is a non-executive member of the board of directors of ABB Ltd. He was Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ViroPharma Incorporated from August 2002 to May 2008...

.

Its main craft have traditionally operated from four positions, each separated by three degrees of the Clarke belt - 7, 10, 13 and 16°E; although more positions are now operated.

Satellites

Eutelsat commercialises capacity on 29 satellites located in geosynchronous orbit between 15 degrees West and 70.5 degrees East.
Satellite Location Regions served Launch Comments
Hot Bird
Hot Bird
Hot Bird is the name of a popular family of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13°E over the Equator and with a transmitting footprint over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....

 6
13° East Europe, North Africa, Middle East Aug. 2002
Hot Bird 8 13° East Europe, North Africa, Middle East Aug. 2006
Hot Bird 9
Hot Bird 9
Hot Bird 9 is a communications satellite operated by Eutelsat, launched 20 December 2008 aboard an Ariane 5ECA carrier rocket along with the Eutelsat W2M spacecraft. It was built by EADS Astrium, based around a Eurostar E3000 satellite bus. It was positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 13°E...

13° East Europe, Africa, Middle East Dec. 2008
Eurobird 1
Eurobird 1
Eurobird 1 is a Eutelsat operated Eurobird satellite, used primarily for digital television. It is located at 28.5° east in the Clarke Belt, just within the range of most satellite dishes pointed at SES Astra's Astra 2A, 2B and 2D at 28.2° east...

28.5° East Europe March 2001
Eurobird
Eurobird
Eurobird is the name for a set of satellites owned by Eutelsat. The Eurobird satellites provide broadcasting and telecommunication services primarily to the Western and Central European region from orbital positions of 28.5, 25.5 and 33 degrees East....

 2
25.5° East Europe, North Africa, Middle East Oct. 1998
Eurobird 3
Eurobird 3
Eurobird 3 is a communications satellite that offers capacity for broadband and broadcast services in Europe. It is owned by Eutelsat....

33° East Europe Sept. 2003
Eurobird 4A (former W1) 4° East Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Sept. 2000
Eurobird 9A (former Hot Bird 7A) 9° East Europe, North Africa, Middle East March 2006
Eurobird 16 (former Alantic Bird 4) and (former Hot Bird 4) 15.8° East Europe, Middle East Feb. 1998 Operating in inclined orbit
SESAT 1
SESAT
The SESAT 1 satellite, operated by Eutelsat, is the first of a series of SESAT satellites. It provides a wide range of telecommunications services over a very large geographical coverage area that extends from the Atlantic Ocean to Eastern Russia, including a large part of Siberia...

16° East Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Asia Apr. 2000 Operating in inclined orbit
W2A
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...

10° East Europe, Africa, Middle East Apr. 3, 2009 S-band payload not yet entered into service due to an anomaly. Solaris Mobile filed the insurance claim and should be able to offer some, but not all of the services it was planning to offer.
W2M
Eutelsat W2M
Eutelsat W2M is a W Series European communications satellite, which was launched on 20 December 2008 aboard an Ariane 5ECA carrier rocket along with the Hot Bird 9 spacecraft. It was built by EADS Astrium, based around an I3K satellite bus provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation...

16° East Europe, Middle East, Africa Dec. 2008 failed in orbit
W3A
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...

7° East Europe, Middle East, Africa March 2004
W3C
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...

16° East Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Indian Ocean Islands Oct. 7, 2011
W4
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...

36° East Africa, Russia May 2000
W5
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...

70.5° East Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia Nov. 2002 Lost one of two solar panels June 16, 2008
W6
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...

21.5° East Europe, Middle East, Africa Apr. 1999
W7
Eutelsat W7
Eutelsat W7 is a communications satellite in the W Series, operated by Eutelsat. It will be located at 36°E. It was launched by November 23, 2009 14:19 GMT, by a Proton rocket....

36° East Europe, Africa, Middle East, Russia 2009
W48
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...

 (former Hot Bird 2 and Eurobird 9)
48° East Central Europe, Middle East, Central Asia Nov. 1996 Operating in inclined orbit
Atlantic Bird
Atlantic Bird
Atlantic Bird is the name for a set of satellites operated by Eutelsat operating over the Atlantic Ocean.Two of the original three satellites replaced the France Telecom Telecom 2 series satellites which Eutelsat had acquired in 1999....

 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 7 7° West Middle East, North Africa Oct. 2011
Eutelsat
Eutelsat
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...

 3C (former Hot Bird 10 and Atlantic Bird 4A)
3° East Europe, South-West Asia Feb. 12, 2009
KA-SAT
KA-SAT
KA-SAT is a telecommunications satellite owned by Eutelsat. The satellite will provide broadband Internet access services across Europe and also a small area of the Middle East. It is positioned at 9°E, joining Eurobird 9A Ku band satellite. KA-SAT was manufactured by EADS Astrium, based on the...

9° East Europe Dec. 2010
Eutelsat
Eutelsat
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...

 3A
3° East Europe, North Africa Jun. 01, 2007

Planned future satellites

Satellite Location Regions served Launch
W6A 21.5° East Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia 2012
W5A 70.5° East Europe, Africa, Central and South East Asia 2012
EUROBIRD 2A 25.5° East North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia 2013
W3D 7° East Europe, Africa, Middle East, Central Asia 2013
EUTELSAT 3B 3° East Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, South America 2014
EUTELSAT 9B 9° East Europe 2014

Rented capacity

Satellite Location Regions served Launch
Telecom 2D 8° West Western Europe Aug. 1996
Telstar 12 15° West Europe, Americas Oct. 1999
Express AM22 (SESAT 2) 53° East Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Asia Dec. 2003

Former satellites

Satellite Primary position Launched Inclined Retired Lost
1F1 13° East 1983 1989 1996
1F2 7° East 1984 1990 1993
1F4 13°/7° East 1987 1993 2002
1F5 10° East 1988 1994 2000
2F1 13° East 1990 1999 2003
2F2 10° East 1991 2000 2005
2F3 16° East 1991 2000 2004
2F4 7° East 1992 2001 2003
Hot Bird
Hot Bird
Hot Bird is the name of a popular family of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13°E over the Equator and with a transmitting footprint over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....

 1
13° East 1995 2006
W2
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...

16° East 1998 2010
W3B
W Series
The W series satellites are six satellites operated by Eutelsat which provide various coverage and bandwidth options for consumer and business services in Europe, Asia and Africa...

 
16° East 2010 2010
W75 (former Hot Bird
Hot Bird
Hot Bird is the name of a popular family of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13°E over the Equator and with a transmitting footprint over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....

 3) and Eurobird 4
4° East 1997 2011

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 Internet 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
Hot Bird
Hot Bird is the name of a popular family of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13°E over the Equator and with a transmitting footprint over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....

  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 6, 2005. Currently it owns 96.0 % of Eutelsat S.A.

Source: http://www.eutelsat.com/investors/pdf/ETL-consolidated-financial-statements-300609.pdf

Controversies

According to the media freedom advocate Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...

, Eutelsat closed down transmissions of the Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...

-linked TV station NTDTV in June 2008, which RSF accused of to appease the Chinese government. Eutelsat claimed that the shutdown was due to a technical failure, but Reporters Without Borders released an alleged transcript of a recorded phone conversation with an unnamed employee in Eutelsat's Beijing office. The caller pretended to be a government official from China's propaganda ministry, which the Eutelsat employee took for granted. The conversation indicated that the decision to shut down NTDTV was made by Eutelsat's CEO Giuliano Berretta, who awaited in return significant business deals with China. The transcript is available on Reporters Without Borders website. http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Transcript_Eutelsat-2.pdf Eutelsat was criticised heavily for the decision, and censured by the European Parliament. Following the European Parliament written declaration, Eutelsat immediately issued a press release, denying all charges of discrimination against NTDTV.

As of January 2010 rumors have surfaced that Eutelsat might be giving in to Kremlin pressure to terminate broadcast of the recently launched "First Caucasian Channel" in Russian. The pro-Western channel is operated by Georgian government to counter Russian propaganda in the Caucasus region.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK