The Hot Birdâ„¢ 8 broadcast satellite of Eutelsat Communications was successfully launchedby a Proton Breeze M launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 03.48 am Baikonur time August 5 (23.48 CET August 4; 21.48 UTC August 4). Weighing in on the launch pad at 4.9 tonnes, Hot Birdâ„¢ 8 is the largest and most powerful European Ku-band broadcast satellite to go into geostationary orbit.
Giuliano Berretta, Eutelsat Communications CEO said: “Equipped with a payload which spans the entire range of frequencies at our 13 degrees East position, Hot Birdâ„¢ 8 takes our inter-satellite back-up to a new level of security. We are looking forward to bringing our new broadcast satellite into commercial service in October, less than six months since Hot Birdâ„¢ 7A went live at 13 degrees East.
Hot Birdâ„¢ 8 will assume all broadcast traffic currently carried by the 20-transponder Hot Birdâ„¢ 3 which will subsequently continue commercial service at an alternative location. The new satellite’s additional capacity will contribute to raising in-orbit security at Eutelsat’s Hot Birdâ„¢ video neighbourhood which broadcasts 950 digital channels to over 110 million cable and satellite homes across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
(Source: Eutelsat)
