The Eutelsat 3D satellite will be launched on Proton M launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on May 14.
The launch will take place at 22.02 Baikonur time (16.02 GMT). A live website cast is available at a special website beginning at 15.45 GMT.
International Launch Services (ILS) is providing the launch services and has the exclusive rights to market the Proton vehicle.
The first three stages of the Proton will use a standard ascent profile to place the orbital unit (Breeze M upper stage and the Eutelsat 3D satellite) into a sub-orbital trajectory. From this point in the mission, the Breeze M will perform planned mission maneuvers to advance the orbital unit first to a circular parking orbit, then to an intermediate orbit, followed by a transfer orbit, and finally to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Separation of the Eutelsat 3D satellite is scheduled to occur approximately 9 hours, 13 minutes after liftoff.
Eutelsat 3D will bring resources, reach and flexibility for professional video, data, telecom and broadband services at 3 degrees east, an orbital position that sits at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia. Through a configuration of Ku and Ka transponders connected to three footprints, Eutelsat’s new satellite will serve customers in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.
A fourth footprint in the Ku-band will serve customers in sub-Saharan Africa. Eutelsat 3D will be located at 3 degrees east until the launch in 2014 of Eutelsat 3B that will further extend coverage to South America. It will subsequently continue service at 7 degrees east.
