making it one of the most far-reaching in the commercial satellite sector.
Combining increased security at flagship positions, and the development of emerging positions, it equips the Group to capture opportunities in the markets it addreses, reinforces the reliability of its service and delivers the flexibility needed to seize new opportunities. As of 30 June 2009, Eutelsat was operating resources on 27 satellites between 15° West and 70.5° East.
3 NEW SATELLITES
IN ORBITHOT BIRD™ 9 at 13° EastATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A at 7° West
W2A at 10° East
5 SATELLITES REDEPLOYEDEUROBIRD™ 9A at 9° EastEUROBIRD™ 16 at 16° East
EUROBIRD™ 4A at 4° East
W48* at 48° East*
W75* at 75° East*
* Second half 2009
5 SATELLITES TO COMEW7 for 36° EastKA-SAT for 13° East
W3B for 16° East
W3C for 7° East
ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 for 7° West
With 27 satellites operating at 22 leading orbital positions, Eutelsat’s fleet is one
of the largest serving Europe, the Middle East, Africa and large areas of Asia and
the American continent.
With the competitive advantage of operating resources concentrated in a quarter of the geostationary arc, Eutelsat is pursuing a dynamic strategy of expanding and securing capacity through new satellites and through the redeployment of existing satellites. The Group’s policy is to anticipate requirements by replacing satellites already in operation with more powerful spacecraft. The replaced satellites, released before the end of their in-orbit life, are subsequently redeployed to other positions, enabling an optimised spread of capacity for maximum market growth.
The second half of the financial year was marked by the entry into service of three new satellites, HOT BIRD™ 9, HOT BIRD™ 10 (rebranded ATLANTIC BIRD ™ 4A), and W2A.
By a cascade effect, these high-capacity satellites have released HOT BIRD™ 7A, EUROBIRD™ 9, ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4, EUROBIRD™ 4 and W1 from their initial missions. Three of these five satellites were redeployed immediately and the other two will be redeployed over the following six months.
These movements increased the number of operational transponders in stable orbit from 501 to 589 in this financial year. They have further secured the premium HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood and injected extra capacity to four fastdeveloping positions (7° West, 9° East, 10° East and 16° East). The Group also improved its flexibility by reducing its fill factor to 88.8% as of 30 June 2009 from the record level of 97.6% on 31 December 2008.