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EUTELSAT W (W2,W3,W4,W1R,HB6,W5)

EUTELSAT W, Artist View

DLR's satellite control center GSOC was awarded a contract by the EUTELSAT organization to perform the positioning of the W satellites.

EUTELSAT's new generation of telecommunications satellites began to take over service from the EUTELSAT II series in 1998/1999. These new satellites operate at orbital positions other than 13 degrees East. They allow for the expansion of telecommunications services as well as supply some television services to other markets than those served from the 13 degrees East HOT BIRD position. The new satellites (ALCATEL spacebus 3000) feature steerable antennas and an extended coverage of the Middle East. They are equipped with 24 transponders of 90 Watts (in comparison to 16 transponders of 50 Watts on the EUTELSAT II generation) and their minimum lifetime will be 12 years.

• EUTELSAT W1
  The satellite could not be launched in July 1998. A fire at the manufacturer's site has resulted in a damage to the EUTELSAT W1 satellite.


• EUTELSAT W2
  The satellite was launched from Kourou, French Guyana, with an Ariane 44L launcher into the geostationary transfer orbit. The positioning (LEOP: Launch and Early Orbit Phase) and the following In-Orbit-Test (IOT) phase could be successfully completed within two weeks. On 19 October 1998 the W2 spacecraft was handed over to the EUTELSAT Satellite Control Center in Paris for the routine operations. For the first 4 weeks of this phase GSOC was in "Hot Standby".


• EUTELSAT W3
  The satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with an ATLAS IIAS launcher into the geostationary transfer orbit. The positioning (LEOP: Launch and Early Orbit Phase) and the following In-Orbit-Test (IOT) phase were successfully completed within 15 days. The handover of W3 to the EUTELSAT Satellite Control Center in Paris took place on 27 April 1999. Until 27 May 1999 during the first phase of the routine operations GSOC provided a "Hot Standby"-service.


• EUTELSAT W4
  The satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with an ATLAS IIIA launcher into the geostationary transfer orbit. The positioning (LEOP: Launch and Early Orbit Phase) and the following In-Orbit-Test (IOT) phase were successfully completed within 15 days. The handover of W4 to the EUTELSAT Satellite Control Center in Paris GSOC took place on 9 June 2000. During the first phase of the routine operations GSOC provided a "Hot Standby"-service until 9 July 2000.


• EUTELSAT W1R (EUROBIRD)
  The satellite was successfully positioned and handed over to the customer within 10 days.


• After the successful positioning of an EUTELSAT-satellite of the third generation (EUROBIRD W1R) in the year 2001, the next mission was the positioning of EUTELSAT Hot Bird 6 (HB6). HB6 supports the former EUTELSAT satellites on this position as back-up in the traditional Ku-Band with additional 32 channels. Furthermore four channels are planned for the first transmission in the Ka-Band.


• EUTELSAT W5 was the last EUTELSAT satellite which was positioned by GSOC. The satellite was the reparied EUTELSAT W1 satellite which was damaged by water used to delete a fire at the manufacture's site. The satellite was successfully positioned and handed over to the customer on 10 December 2002.