Eutelsat 5 West B
Communications satellite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eutelsat 5 West B is a geostationary communications satellite. It is owned by European satellite communications company Eutelsat. It launched on October 9, 2019, at 10:17 UTC on a Proton-M rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.[7] The satellite was built by Northrop Grumman and Airbus Defence and Space and has an expected operational life of more than 15 years. Situated at 5° west, it broadcasts satellite television, radio and other digital data. It was scheduled to enter operational service at the end of 2019, but deployment difficulties delayed service.
| Mission type | Communications |
|---|---|
| Operator | Eutelsat |
| COSPAR ID | 2019-067A[1] |
| SATCAT no. | 44624 |
| Website | www |
| Mission duration | more than 15 years (anticipated)[2] |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | GEOStar-2e[3] |
| Manufacturer | Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) for Satellite bus and Airbus Defence and Space for Payload[4] |
| Launch mass | 2,740 kilograms (6,040 lb)[5] or 2,864 kilograms (6,314 lb)[6] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 9 October 2019, 10:17 UTC |
| Rocket | Proton/Briz-M |
| Launch site | Baikonur Cosmodrome |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Geostationary |
| Transponders | |
| Band | 35 Ku |
| Coverage area | Europe, North Africa |
Problems
On 24 October 2019 Eutelsat released a statement saying the company was investigating an incident on one of the bird's two solar arrays.[8]
On 17 January 2020 Eutelsat issued a statement saying that one of the two arrays was unusable, and the resulting power shortage meant that the satellite could operate at only 45% capacity. The satellite was expected to enter service in late January 2020. The satellite was planned to replace the Eutelsat 5 West A. However, due to the power shortage, Eutelsat 5 West A ultimately remained operational for longer than originally planned in a fuel-saving inclined orbit. This extension was one part of the mitigation activities. Eutelsat 5 West B's problems was projected to cost Eutelsat several million euros. Eutelsat had not decided (as of January 17) the size of the ensuing insurance claim.[9]
The European GNSS Agency's GEO-3, a hosted payload of the Eutelsat West B, was not affected by the power loss and was expected to function normally. It entered service on February 14, 2020.[10]
