Eutelsat 33E, previously known as Hot Bird 10, Atlantic Bird 4A, Eutelsat 3B and Nilesat 104, Hot Bird 13D is a French

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

. Operated by Eutelsat, it provides

direct to home Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

broadcasting services from geostationary orbit as part of Eutelsat's Hot Bird constellation at a longitude of 13 degrees east. Eutelsat 33E was constructed by

Astrium Astrium was an aerospace manufacturer subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) that provided civil and military space systems and services from 2006 to 2013. In 2012, Astrium had a turnover of €5.8 billion and 1 ...

, and is based on the

Eurostar-3000 The Eurostar E3000 is a generic satellite model most commonly used for commercial and military communications satellites manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space (formerly Astrium). It is a member of Airbus Defence and Space's Eurostar family. I ...

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus- ...

. It has a mass of and is expected to operate for 15 years. The spacecraft has 64 Ku-band

transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...

s, broadcasting

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Hot Bird 10, as it was then named, was launched by

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy ...

using an Ariane 5ECA carrier rocket, as part of a dual launch with the

NSS-9 NSS-9 is a communications satellite owned by SES WORLD SKIES. It is an all C-band satellite intended as a replacement for NSS-5, and has three beams with 44 active C-band transponders. NSS-9 was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation and launche ...

spacecraft. Two French military satellites, Spirale-A and Spirale-B were also carried, as secondary payloads. The launch took place from

ELA-3 ELA-3 (french: Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 3, lit=Ariane Launch Complex 3), is a launch pad and associated facilities at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana. ELA-3 is operated by Arianespace as part of the expendable launch system f ...

Kourou Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

, at 22:09 UTC on 12 February 2009. The spacecraft was deployed into

geosynchronous transfer orbit A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into a GTO as an intermediate step f ...

, raising itself to its operational geostationary orbit by means of its

apogee motor An apogee kick motor (AKM) is a rocket motor that is regularly employed on artificial satellites to provide the final impulse to change the trajectory from the transfer orbit into its final (most commonly circular) orbit. For a satellite laun ...

. Upon its entry into service, prior to becoming part of Eutelsat's Hot Bird fleet, the Hot Bird 10 satellite was used to cover two orbital positions for satellites still awaiting launch. In 2009 it was temporarily renamed Atlantic Bird 4A, and placed at a longitude of 7 degrees west ahead of the September 2011 launch of Atlantic Bird 7. During this time, some of the transponders aboard the satellite were leased by

Nilesat Nilesat (; , ''or'' ) is an Egyptian company and the name of a series of Egyptian communications satellites. It was established in 1996 with the purpose of operating Egyptian satellites and their associated mission control center and ground st ...

and operated as Nilesat 104. Atlantic Bird 7 entered service in October 2011; on 1 November Atlantic Bird 4A was moved to 3 degrees east as Eutelsat 3C, to cover for Eutelsat 3B. It was moved to 13 degrees east in July 2013 and renamed Hot Bird 13D under the new designation system Eutelsat had introduced in 2012. The spacecraft is co-located with

Hot Bird 13B Hot Bird 13B, known as Hot Bird 8 prior to 2012, is a geostationary communications satellite. Operated by Eutelsat, it provides direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting services from geostationary orbit as part of Eutelsat's Hot Bird constellation at ...

and Hot Bird 13C.

References

External links

Eutelsat 33E
at the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization official website.

{{Orbital launches in 2009 Spacecraft launched in 2009 Eutelsat satellites Ariane commercial payloads Communications satellites in geostationary orbit