The European operator Eutelsat has had to postpone in several occasions the joint operation of both satellites.

The initial date of the joint throwing of both satellites was fixed for November 14 but posteriomente it was postponed on December 5. A new mishap already habitual in this type of operations, postponed it on December 10, later on December 16, and now a 20th. And the fact is that all the implied parts, from Ariane even Eutelsat wants to have full guarantees in the success of the throwing.

The new satellite Hot Bird 9 is provided with 64 transpondedores of band Ku and there will be located in the orbit geostacionaria of 13th East, the most commercial of the fleet of Eutelsat.

The throwing of Hot Bird 9 will take place only a few months before Hot Bird 10, foreseen initially for February 20, 2009.

To optimize resources, Eutelsat will make use of the operation to send to the space also the new satellite Eutelsat W2M, which once in orbit will replace the old man Eutelsat W2 in 16th East. The Eutelsat W2M is provided with 32 transpondedores of band Ku.

The mission will be the forty and second one of a shuttle of guy Ariane-5, he added in a bulletin Arianespace, that it indicated that the satellites that it must put in orbit are Hot Bird 9 and the W2M.

Hot Bird 8 had thrown to the space a Russian rocket in August, 2006.


(SatCesc, 06/12/08)