Eutelsat 3D

Eutelsat 3D is a communications satellite operated by Eutelsat which will provide services to Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. It will initially be located at 3° E in geosynchronous orbit in a fixed point above the equator, where Eutelsat already has two satellites Eutelsat 3A and Eutelsat 3C. Once Eutelsat 3B is launched in 2014 this satellite will be moved to 7°E.

Eutelsat 3D
Mission typeCommunications
OperatorEutelsat
COSPAR ID2013-022A
SATCAT no.39163
Mission duration15 years (planned) [1]
Orbits completed626[2]
Spacecraft properties
BusSpacebus 4000[1]
ManufacturerThales Alenia Space[1]
Launch mass5,470 kilograms (12,060 lb)[3]
Start of mission
Launch date14 May 2013, 16:02 (2013-05-14UTC16:02Z) UTC
RocketProton-M/Briz-M[3]
Launch siteBaikonur Cosmodrome 200/39[3]
ContractorInternational Launch Services
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeGeostationary
Longitude3° east[1]
Perigee altitude35,782 kilometres (22,234 mi)[2]
Apogee altitude35,805 kilometres (22,248 mi)[2]
Inclination0.05 degrees[2]
Period1436.14 minutes[2]
Epoch24 January 2015, 05:09:19 UTC[2]
Transponders
Band56 Ka and Ku transponders
 

The satellite has four footprints and broadcasts on both Ka band and Ku band. Three footprints will serve Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa in both Ka and Ku bands. The fourth footprint will cover sub-Saharan Africa but only in Ku band. It will have 56 transponders in total. The satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space using their spacebus 4000 satellite bus.[1][4]

The satellite will be launched by International Launch Services from pad 39 at Site 200 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch will use a Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M upper stage. The first three stages of the Proton fire for the first 9 minutes, 42 seconds. After that the Briz-M upper stage takes over with five separate burns until the space craft separates from the upper stage 9 hours and 13 minutes after launch.[5]

The satellite launched on 14 May 2013 at 16:02 UTC and was successfully placed into geostationary transfer orbit.[6] It was given the International Designator 2013-022A and the US satellite catalog reference 39163.[7]

Eutelsat name their satellites after their locations so it is likely that this satellite will change name when it is moved. Eutelsat 3C used to be called Atlantic Bird 4A when it was located at 7°W. It was renamed to 3C when it moved to 3°E. Eutelsat 3A was likewise renamed when it moved.[8][9]

References
  1. "EUTELSAT 3D satellite arrives at the Baikonour Cosmodrome. Readies for ILS Proton launch on May 14". Eutelsat. 2013-04-16. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. "EUTE 3D Satellite details 2013-022A NORAD 39163". N2YO. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  3. "Eutelsat 3D". ILS. n.d. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  4. "Media Advisory: ILS Proton to Launch EUTELSAT 3D". ILS. 7 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  5. "Eutelsat 3D" (PDF). ILS. n.d. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  6. "ILS Proton Successfully Launches Eutelsat 3D for Eutelsat". ILS. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  7. "Eutelsat 3D". zarya.info. n.d. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  8. "EUTELSAT 3C". Eutelsat. n.d. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  9. "EUTELSAT 3A". Eutelsat. n.d. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
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