Successful Transfer
of Services to Eutelsat's W3A Satellite from W3
(17 May 2004) Eutelsat has
announced that its new W3A satellite was successfully brought into full
commercial service at 7° East in the nights of May 15 to 16 and May 16 to
17 with the seamless transfer of all traffic to the new satellite from W3.
In addition to assuming all services formerly delivered by
W3, Eutelsat's new satellite substantially increases the business potential at
this orbital locations by providing more capacity and extending coverage beyond
Europe, the Middle East and North Africa to almost the entire African
continent. In addition to Ku band capacity, Eutelsat has deployed Ka band
frequencies and Skyplex on-board processing on W3A that in particular opens
opportunities for broadband services between Europe and Africa such as voice
over IP and Internet access.
Following launch on 16 March, W3A was
positioned in geostationary orbit by Eutelsat in collaboration with prime
contractor EADS Astrium and Telespazio. Tests of the spacecraft bus, the first
in the Eurostar E3000 series, were completed on 31 March and the payload was
subsequently tested and performance thoroughly verified during April on a test
location. On 3 May, the satellite was triggered to begin a slow move towards
its definitive operational position at 7° East. It arrived on station on 14
May and was prepared for the transfer procedures.
The switch of
services followed a meticulously planned sequence of events over two nights,
with corporate clients such as Reuters and Hughes Network Systems being the
first to move in the night of 16 May. In the night of 17 May the European
Broadcasting Union's Eurovision network, Digiturk's pay-TV platform, RAI, TV
Poland and other video clients were transferred. The majority of the switch
manoeuvres lasted fewer than 30 seconds with the longest lasting fewer than 90
seconds.
Eutelsat's W3 satellite, which went into service exactly five
years ago, will start its drift later this month to 48° East where it will
continue its full commercial mission for clients with requirements in Europe,
the Middle East, North Africa and central Asia.
(source:
Eutelsat)
