International Launch Service is set to launch Eutelsat 5 West on board a Proton from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 9 October.
Eutelsat 5 West B is a Ku-band satellite to be located at 5 degrees West, a key video neighborhood addressing predominantly French, Italian and Algerian broadcast markets. The new satellite will provide business continuity and improved quality for these markets via a Ku-band payload of 35 equivalent 36 MHz transponders connected to three service areas. Switchable transponders will also increase commercial flexibility.
Eutelsat selected Airbus Defence and Space and Northrop Grumman to build the new satellite. Airbus Defence and Space built the satellite?s payload while the platform was manufactured by Northrop Grumman.
ILS will also launch the Mission Extension Vehicle-1 in the sam mission. The Northrop Grumman manufactured Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) delivers a groundbreaking satellite life-extension service through the company?s wholly-owned subsidiary SpaceLogistics LLC. MEV-1 docks to client vehicles in geosynchronous orbit using existing satellite features to provide attitude and orbit control of the combined vehicle stack.
MEV-1 has the ability to dock and undock several times during its 15 year design life, allowing it to service multiple customers. SpaceLogistics? initial service, using the MEV-1, will extend the life of the Intelsat 901 satellite for five years. SpaceLogistics is delivering the future of space by demonstrating the fundamentals of satellite servicing with MEV-1.
