Eutelsat 8 West B is a
geostationary 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 commo ...
(DTH) broadcasting services from
geostationary orbit. The satellite is part of Eutelsat's constellation at a
longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...
of 8° West. Eutelsat announced the order of a new
Spacebus-4000C3 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- ...
from
Thales Alenia Space
Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufactur ...
in October 2012.
Satellite description
Eutelsat 8 West B is a satellite with a design life of 15 years. It is equipped with an
S400-12 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 ...
which was used for initial
orbit-raising manoeuvres and an
S10-18 engine for station keeping burns. The spacecraft has 10
C-band and 40
Ku-band
The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally german: Kurz-unten), because it is the lower part of the ori ...
transponders
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 tran ...
.
Launch
Eutelsat 8 West B was launched on the
Ariane 5ECA launch vehicles from
Centre Spatial Guyanais at the
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 ...
in
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. ...
. Liftoff occurred at 20:34:08
UTC on 20 August 2015,
with the launch vehicle successfully injecting its payload 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 ...
(GTO). The launch was conducted 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 ...
.
Mission
Following launch, the satellite Eutelsat 8 West B used its apogee motor to raise itself into geostationary orbit, positioning itself at a longitude of 8° West. Capacity 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 ...
is marketed as Nilesat 104B.
References
External links
*
Information about this satellite
{{Orbital launches in 2015
Spacecraft launched in 2015
Ariane commercial payloads
Satellites using the Spacebus bus
Eutelsat satellites
Communications satellites in geostationary orbit