The OverHorizon satellite provides a regenerative system for broadband communication via the satellite to, from and between small, inexpensive user terminals (“the Regenerative Communication System”) installed on moving vehicles, such as cars, trucks, boats, airplanes, etc. The application field is one of the most promising in the future of satellite communications and services.

”Thales Alenia Space, as worldwide leader in satcom payload, is proud to contribute to OverHorizon with cutting-edge payload  technologies to provide  efficient, regenerative and transparent capacity. This innovative flexible payload, which relies on Thales Alenia Space in-orbit heritage and proven performance, will offer OverHorizon a position to be a decisive contender at the market with a highly versatile and adaptable mission, perfectly suited to their customers’ expectation” said Mr. Emmanuel Grave, Telecommunications Executive Vice-President for Thales Alenia Space. Great satisfaction was expressed also by  Mr. Michael Larkin, Orbital’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Space Systems Group, and Mr. James Gerow, President of OverHorizon.

Sources: Thales Alenia Space, OverHorizon, Orbital Science

After a 9-hour 12-minute flight, the launcher released W7 into geosynchronous transfer orbit.  Commenting after successful spacecraft separation, Eutelsat CEO, Michel de Rosen said: “Our W7 satellite is on its way to 36° East. This new satellite will be a key pillar for our business development at a well-established neighbourhood, addressing dynamic markets with clear potential for sustained growth. W7 will support expansion of pay-TV platforms in Russia and across Africa. It will also give us headroom to expand telecoms and data activity in a vast region embracing Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.

With three new satellites having already entered into commercial service in 2009 – HOT

BIRD™ 9, ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A and W2A – today’s launch also represents a new step

forward in Eutelsat’s significant in-orbit expansion programme. Four additional satellites will

follow W7 into orbit by the end of 2011.

W7 is based on the Spacebus 4000C4 design, built for Eutelsat by Thales Alenia Space.

Colocated with W4, Eutelsat’s new satellite will double resources at the 36 degrees East

location. Has an operational lifetime of 15 years.

Eutelsat Communications announced as well the signature of a far-reaching contract concluded between its Skylogic broadband affiliate and SFR, one of the leading telecommunications operators in France. SFR has selected Tooway to meet demand for broadband from its customers beyond ADSL coverage. Called the ‘Satellite Internet Pack’ the new service supplied by SFR was launched today using capacity on Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ 6 satellite. It will be extended on Eutelsat’s new-generation KA-SAT satellite whose launch is scheduled for end 2010.

 Source: Eutelsat

Paris – Eutelsat Communications and Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) announced the execution of a strategic agreement for commercial cooperation at the 75° East orbital location.

Within the framework of this agreement Eutelsat is colocating its EUROBIRD 4 satellite at 75° East with the ABS-1 and ABS-1A satellites operated by ABS. This redeployment will inject an additional eight Ku-band transponders to 75° East to address markets in the Middle East, central Asia and Russia. Renamed W75/ABS-1B, Eutelsat’s satellite will also provide possible redundancy to customers until the arrival of ABS-2, which is expected in 2012.

Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) is one of the fastest growing premium satellite operators in the world. Operating the ABS-1 and ABS-1A satellites at 75° East, it connects 4/5th of the world’s population covering all of Asia, the CIS region, the Middle East, most of Africa and Eastern Europe.

Eutelsat Communications is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 27 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world’s three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.

Source: Eutelsat – ABS

Paris, France – Eutelsat Communications saw an increase in revenues at 253 million euros, up from 226.7 million euros compared to the same period last year in its 2009 third quarter financial results.
The European operator saw revenue growth across all segments. Eutelsat generated 180.8 million euros in the quarter from video applications, up nearly 9 percent compared to the same stage last year. In its data and value added services, revenues reached 47.7 million euros in the quarter, an increase of over 16 percent compared to last year.
Multi-usage services posted a 46 percent gain over 2008 at 22.9 million euros.

Moreover Eutelsat now has 100 high-definition TV channels broadcasting through its video satellites, the operator announced.
Eutelsat reached the milestone with the launch off Sky Sport 1HD, a flagship channel of the latest HD package from the Sky Italia pay-TV platform.
The operator said its HDTV channels have increased tenfold since mid-2006 and more than doubled since June 2008. A total of 42 percent of the 243 HD satellite channel streams in Europe and the Middle East are broadcast through a Eutelsat satellite, according to the operator.
“We believe that the consumer expectation for a first-class HD experience and the suitability of our satellites for distributing HD content both Direct-to-Home and to cable, IP and DTT networks are guarantees of a long-term market for Eutelsat and the satellite industry,” said Eutelsat Commercial Director Olivier Milliès-Lacroix, in a statement.

 Source: Eutelsat Communications

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida. – NASA announces that Ares I-X test rocket

lifted off last Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida

for a two-minute powered flight. The test flight lasted about six

minutes from its launch from the newly-modified Launch Complex 39B

until splash down of the rocket's booster stage nearly 150 miles down

range.

"This is a huge step forward for NASA's exploration goals," said Doug

Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission

Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Ares I-X provides

NASA with an enormous amount of data that will be used to improve the

design and safety of the next generation of American spaceflight

vehicles -- vehicles that could again take humans beyond low Earth

orbit."

The 327-foot tall Ares I-X test vehicle produced 2.6 million pounds of

thrust to accelerate the rocket to nearly 3 g's and Mach 4.76.

It capped its easterly flight at a sub-orbital altitude of 150,000 feet after the separation of its

first stage, a four-segment solid rocket booster.

Parachutes deployed for recovery of the booster and the solid rocket

motor will be recovered at sea for later inspection.

"The most valuable learning is through experience and observation,"

said Bob Ess, Ares I-X mission manager. "Tests such as this -- from

paper to flight -- are vital in gaining a deeper understanding of the

vehicle, from design to development."

Wednesday's flight offered an early opportunity to test and prove

hardware, facilities, and ground operations - important data for

future space vehicles. During the flight, a range of performance data

was relayed to the ground and also stored in the onboard flight data

recorder. The 700 sensors mounted on the vehicle provide flight test

engineering data to correlate with computer models and analysis. The

rocket's sensors gathered information in several areas, including

assembly and launch operations, separation of the vehicle's first and

second stages, controllability and aerodynamics, the re-entry and

recovery of the first stage and new vehicle design techniques.

For information about Ares I-X, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX  

Source: NASA

The European satellite operator achieved a further extension of its multi-year relationship with Cyfrowy Polsat, Poland’s leading pay-TV operator, with the renewal of a contract for three transponders at the HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood. This new lease with Eutelsat follows the contract for a fourth transponder inked by Cyfrowy Polsat in March 2009 to support the on-going expansion of Poland’s leading pay-TV platform with the launch of new TV services.

Launched in 2000 from Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ position, Cyfrowy Polsat currently broadcasts over 75 Polish-language channels to more than 2.8 million subscribers. In 2007 Cyfrowy Polsat launched HDTV in its platform and now offers six channels, including Polsat HD, Polsat Sport HD, Eurosport HD, HBO HD, MTVNHD and Discovery HD. In addition, Cyfrowy Polsat subscribers can access over 500 free to air television and radio channels which can be received in Poland from the HOT BIRD™ satellites.

In the European scenario,  Eutelsat Communications, has been selected by Hungary’s national public broadcaster Magyar Televízió (MTV), in a consortium assembling Magyar Telekom and eVision, to broadcast its Magyar TV2 channel across Europe using the EUROBIRD™ 9A satellite. The flagship general entertainment channel is now available on a free-to-air basis in both Standard Digital and High-Definition versions.

Within the framework of the consortium servicing MTV’s requirements, Magyar Telekom manages terrestrial activities, including fibre delivery of the broadcast signals to eVision’s teleport in Budapest. The signals are multiplexed and uplinked by e-Vision to one transponder on Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD™ 9A satellite for reception by satellite homes and terrestrial operators in Hungary and across Europe.

Coming to middle east, Eutelsat signed a multi-year capacity deal with satellite service provider Noorsat.
The contract is for the lease of three additional transponders on Eutelsat’s Atlantic Bird 4A satellite.
Noorsat, based in Manama, Bahrain, offers a broadcasting platform that delivers more than 170 free-to-air and subscription channels.
“By increasing our capacity at Eutelsat’s 7 degrees West neighborhood, Noorsat is able to offer its clients extensive coverage of DTH homes in the Middle East. Our expansion is based on the prospect of seeing the number of channels in the [Middle East and North Africa] region increase over the next three years. We are preparing for the expected introduction of HDTV channels and will be offering our customers the capacity they need,” Noorsat CEO Omar Shoter said in a statement.

Sources: Eutelsat, Via Satellite