Arianespace wins Eutelsat launch contract
December 16, 2020
By Chris Forrester
Arianespace has confirmed it will launch Eutelsat’s 10B craft in 2022. Eutelsat 10B will be positioned at 10 degrees East and providing transmission links from the Americas to Asia.
Built by Thales Alenia Space and based on its Spacebus NEO all-electric platform, it will carry Ku- and C-band payloads to ensure service continuity for existing customers on Eutelsat 10A, while supporting the development of the Eutelsat Group’s activities in mobile connectivity thanks to two incremental multi-beam HTS Ku-band payloads.
Pascal Homsy, Eutelsat’s Chief Technical Officer, said: “We are pleased to entrust the launch of Eutelsat 10B to our long-standing partner, Arianespace, further cementing the relationship between our two companies and reflecting our confidence in Ariane 5 providing us with access to space.”
“We are honoured by Eutelsat’s renewed trust in Arianespace’s launch services solutions,” added Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace. “Not only does this contract illustrate the long-lasting partnership between our two companies and the robustness of our relationship, it also demonstrates the competitiveness of Ariane 5 within the demanding market of geostationary telecommunications satellites. With this latest announcement, Ariane 5 has secured almost all its final series of launches, in advance of the handover to Ariane 6 with the same success.”