Two satellites of Eutelsat Communications-Hot Bird 9 and W2M - were thrown on Saturday from the spatial center of Kourou, in the French Guyana, by a rocket Ariane, announced a spokesman of the company Arianespace, person in charge of the throwing.

The throwing sixth of one Ariane this year, took place at 22:35 GMT with three quarters of an hour of delay due to an anomaly in the pressure of feeding of the liquid hydrogen, added the president and general manager of Arianespace, Jean-Yves Le Gall.

Hot Bird 9 constructed by EADS-Astrium, he will make sure the television programs diffusion towards Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

The satellite W2M, constructed by a consortium between EADS-Astrium and the Indian spatial agency (Isro), will allow the feeding of the networks of information and the television programs diffusion towards central and oriental Europe, in addition to towards the islands of the Indian Ocean.

The throwing of both satellites was organized in the first moment for December 10 but it had to be backward due to highways blockades in the French Guyana, on the north coast of South America between Brazil and Surinam, in protest against the increase of the price of the fuels.

Two satellites, it detailed Eutelsat, there are the first ones of a "important program of expansion" that will comprise seven satellites up to ends of 2010. Eutelsat will have then 664 repeaters, instead of 501 now.

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.

Hot Bird 9 provided with 64 repeaters, will place in the position of 13 ° East, where from they transmit nearly 1.100 television channels to 120 million hearths, Eutelsat was necessary.

W2M will be able to exploit up to 30 repeaters, placed to 16 ° East, for almost 400 chains of television.


(SatCesc, 21/12/08)