Arabsat BADR-8 shipped to Florida
May 9, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Arabsat’s latest satellite, its impressive BADR-8, has been flown from the Airbus Space & Defence facility in Toulouse, France, to its launch pad in Florida.
The launch, towards the end of this month, will be handled by SpaceX.
BADR-8 is a latest next generation geostationary Eurostar Neo satellite. The satellite will provide connectivity over Europe, Middle East, Africa, and central Asia and also features a world first Airbus’ innovative space demonstrator TELEO to provide space to ground optical communications at gigabit speeds.
Airbus’ relationship with Arabsat stretches back 20 years, and BADR-8 is the eighth satellite built for the Saudi Arabia-based operator.
Arabsat’s BADR-8 satellite features increased payload capacity and more efficient power and thermal control systems and will replace and increase Arabsat’s capacity and augment its core business at the BADR hotspot 26°E in geostationary orbit.
The state-of-the-art Airbus Eurostar Neo Arabsat BADR-8 satellite features electric orbit raising technology and is the third Airbus Eurostar Neo satellite to be launched.
BADR-8 has been designed to remain in service in orbit for more than 15 years. The satellite has a launch mass of around 4.5 tons and it will deliver 17.8 kW of payload power. The satellite was transported to Florida on a giant Ukrainian-owned Antonov An124 aircraft.