Atlantic Bird 7

Spacecraft n°:

Eutelsat spacecraft n°: 38

Launch data: Designation  37816 / 11051A Launch date  24 Sep 2011 - 20:18 UT Launch site  Sea Launch Odyssey, Pacific Launch vehicle  Zenit-3SL Mission  Commercial: Communication (Direct Broadcasting) Geostationary orbit: Perigee / Apogee  35744 x 35799 km Eccentricity  2,97E-04 Inclination  0.06 deg Period  1436.1 min

Mission details:

• Eutelsat's Atlantic Bird 7 communications satellite, an Astrium Eurostar 3000, was launched into geostationary transfer orbit on Sep 24 to 7 degrees West, and will replace Atlantic Bird 4A, in service at that orbital location since early 2009. This was the first launch by the new Sea Launch company, which is 95 percent owned by RKK Energia. The old Sea Launch, which declared bankruptcy, was a joint venture led by Boeing involving Yuzhnoe, who build the Zenit-2SB core vehicle, Energia who build the Blok DM-SL third stage and Kvaerner who built the floating launch platform. There were 30 Sea Launch missions between 1999 and 2009.
• The introduction of Atlantic Bird 7 will mark a second phase in the boosting of broadcasting capacity at 7 degrees West, where over 450 TV channels are currently available. This orbital location is operated by Eutelsat in close cooperation with the Egyptian satellite operator Nilesat.
  ATLANTIC BIRD 7 will significantly increase the Group’s in-orbit Ku-band resources at this position. This new capacity will be brought into operation alongside the Nilesat 101, 102 and 201 satellites operated by Nilesat.
• Replaces Atlantic Bird 4A at 7 West.