Eutelsat acquires two replacement satellites for its Hotbird video community at 13° East

These all-electric satellites They will enter into operation in 2022, offering coverage of Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

Eutelsat has commissioned Airbus Defence and Space two new satellites that will replace the three satellites Hotbird existing in position 13° It is, your reference video community. These all-electric satellites They will enter into operation in 2022, offering coverage of Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

The new satellites will strengthen and increase the quality of broadcasting services offered to Eutelsat customers in the Hotbird position, thanks to their higher power levels, particularly over Western Europe and Poland. The satellites will also feature advanced features for signal protection and resiliency, as well as exceptional in-orbit redundancy.

Weighing 4.5 tonnes and having a power of 22kW, the all-electric satellites will be based on Airbus Defense and Space's innovative Eurostar Neo platform. The latter will be produced, along with the satellite payloads, at the Airbus Defense and Space facilities in Stevenage and Portsmouth, in the United Kingdom, as well as in Tolouse, in France.

This cutting-edge technology will allow Eutelsat to replace the current constellation of three satellites with two, further taking the Capex optimization achieved through the application of its cost-optimized design policy.

Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of Eutelsat, said: "We are delighted to have secured the replacement of capacity at our flagship Hotbird video community at 13° East, which has played a key role in the development of broadcast formats since its inception and is a pillar of our video strategy. These new satellites have been specifically designed to strengthen the services we offer to our customers in this key community, while representing the optimal solution in terms of Capex efficiency. We again entrust this project to our long-standing partner Airbus Defense and Space, who has already manufactured 23 satellites for our group.”

With almost 1,000 television channels, including more than 340 HD channels, reaching more than 135 million homes, Hotbird has been Eutelsat's leading video community for more than 20 years, serving Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. This leading video community also hosts 10 premium television platforms and broadcasts over 600 pay TV channels as well as around 400 free-to-air channels.