Arianespace Flight 186 Set For End Of November
Evry, France (SPX) Oct 07, 2008 Arianespace and Eutelsat Communications confirm that the upcoming launch of the Ariane 5 ECA will orbit Eutelsat's HOT BIRD 9 and W2M satellites. The launch of Flight 186 is planned to take place in the last week of November and will be the sixth Ariane 5 launch in 2008. The modification to the Arianespace launch manifest enables Eutelsat to ensure timely entry into service of HOT BIRD 9 and accelerates the deployment of the W2M satellite. Built by EADS Astrium, the construction of HOT BIRD 9 was completed in July and the satellite arrived in Kourou from Toulouse on September 16 to be prepared for launch. W2M, which is built by EADS Astrium / ISRO is due to be shipped from Bangalore (India) to Kourou by mid-October to initiate final preparations for launch. Designed for consumer broadcasting to satellite and cable homes across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, the high-power Ku-band HOT BIRD 9 satellite, equipped with 64 transponders, will join Eutelsat's 13 degrees East position to increase in-orbit sparing at the Group's premium video neighbourhood. HOT BIRD 9 is identical to HOT BIRD 8 which was launched to 13 degrees East in August 2006 and HOT BIRD 10 which will be orbited by Arianespace beginning of 2009. W2M will be positioned at Eutelsat's 16 degrees East position which represents one of the Group's fastest-growing neighbourhoods for digital broadcasting in central Europe and Indian Ocean islands. Equipped with 26 Ku-band transponders and up to 32 depending on operational modes, the new satellite will replace W2 and provide additional capacity for further service expansion. Related Links Eutelsat Communications Launch Pad at Space-Travel.com
Arianespace Ready For Fifth Ariane 5 Launch Campaign Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Jul 30, 2008 The fifth Ariane 5 of 2008 is now under Arianespace's responsibility for payload integration, final checkout and launch following its delivery by industrial prime contractor Astrium at the Spaceport in French Guiana. |
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