Eutelsat Hotbird 13G has been successfully launched into Geostationary Transfer Orbit by SpaceX from Canaveral, Florida.
It is the second of two satellites built by manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space to be placed at Eutelsat’s flagship 13 degrees East neighbourhood position, replacing three older satellites. It is also based on the Eurostar Neo telecommunications satellite platform, developed under an ESA Partnership Project with Airbus designed to foster innovation and competitiveness in the European space industry. Once into orbit and positioned, the satellite will, with its twin Eutelsat Hotbird 13F launched on October 15t, reinforce and enhance the broadcast of more than 1,000 TV channels into homes across Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. Moreover, the two satellites will offer advanced features in terms of uplink signal protection and resilience.
Eutelsat notes that in February 2021, it was entrusted once again by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) to host the EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) GEO-4 payload, which is on board Eutelsat Hotbird 13G. Eutelsat already operates the EGNOS GEO-3 payload on its Eutelsat 5 West B satellite.
Commenting on the launch, Eva Berneke, Eutelsat CEO, said: “Eutelsat Hotbird 13G is now on its way to join Eutelsat Hotbird 13F at our flagship 13-degree East position. We also look forward to completing the GNSS network for our European Union long term customer and partner, the EUSPA. My congratulations to the Eutelsat, Airbus and SpaceX teams for another successful launch into geostationary orbit”.
