Eutelsat 5 West B

Eutelsat 5 West B is a geostationary communications satellite. It is owned by French 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.

Eutelsat 5 West B
Mission typeCommunications
OperatorEutelsat
COSPAR ID2019-067A[1]
SATCAT no.44624
Websitewww.eutelsat.com/en/satellites/eutelsat-5-west.html
Mission durationmore than 15 years (anticipated)[2]
Spacecraft properties
BusGEOStar-2e [3]
ManufacturerNorthrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) for Satellite bus and Airbus Defence and Space for Payload[4]
Launch mass2,740 kilograms (6,040 lb) [5] or 2,864 kilograms (6,314 lb) [6]
Start of mission
Launch date9 October 2019, 10:17 (2019-10-09UTC10:17Z) UTC
RocketProton/Briz-M
Launch siteBaikonur Cosmodrome
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeGeostationary
Transponders
Band35 Ku
Coverage areaEurope, 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 would remain operational for longer than originally planned in a fuel-saving inclined orbit. This extension is one part of the mitigation activities. Eutelsat 5 West B's problems will 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 is expected to function normally. It entered service on February 14, 2020.[10]

References
  1. "EUTELSAT 5 WEST B Satellite details 2019-067A NORAD 44624". N2YO. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. "Future Satellite Eutelsat 5 West B" (PDF). Eutelsat. 27 September 2019. p. 2.
  3. MEDIA ADVISORY: ILS PROTON TO LAUNCH EUTELSAT 5 WEST B / MEV-1 SATELLITES (07/10/2019)
  4. Eutelsat 5 West B (eutelsat.com)
  5. "Eutelsat 5 West B Factsheet (northropgrumman.com)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  6. MEDIA ADVISORY: ILS PROTON TO LAUNCH EUTELSAT 5 WEST B / MEV-1 SATELLITES (07/10/2019)
  7. "Proton rocket ride-share launches Northrop Grumman's Mission Extension Vehicle". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2019-10-17..
  8. Eutelsat statement on EUTELSAT 5 West B (Press release / Oct 24, 2019)
  9. "Power loss halves Eutelsat 5 West B capacity, hosted payload spared". SpaceNews.com. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  10. "EGNOS payload enters service on EUTELSAT 5 West B". Mynewsdesk. 14 Feb 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.