Hot Bird 7

Spacecraft n°:

EUTELSAT spacecraft n°: 27

Launch data: Designation  01251 / 02F03 Launch date  11 Dec 2002 - 22:22 UT Launch site  Ko, ELA3 Launch vehicle  Ariane-5ECA (V157) Mission  Communications (Direct Broadcasting) Decay  11 Dec 2002

Spacecraft data:

Mission details:

• Hot Bird 7 was to be used for direct television and radio broadcast across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. This satellite was the fifth in the Hot Bird series to have been ordered from Astrium.
• As prime contractor for Hot Bird 7, Astrium had provided both the platform and the payload. The satellite was based on the company's well-proven Eurostar-2000+ platform. The spacecraft had a launch mass of 3350 kg, power levels of 7.5 kW and a design lifetime of up to 15 years. Hot Bird 7 carried a payload of 40 active Ku-band channels with high-power travelling wave tube amplifiers, giving the satellite twice the capacity of the earlier Astrium-built Hot Bird satellites.
• In orbit at the 13° East position, Hot Bird 7 was to replace Hot Bird 3, but the launch failed.

Mission details:

• Less than 5 minutes into the launch V157 suffered a flight malfuncton which led to the launcher being blown up by the Range Safety Officer, and the Hotbird 7 and Stentor satellites were destroyed in the ensuing explosion.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Kourou

Headquarter cancel Paris