2 new Eutelsat craft ready for business
September 13, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Eutelsat’s latest two satellites, its Hotbirds 13F and 13G, have officially been declared open for business at 13 degrees East, Eutelsat’s flagship video orbital slot.
“The satellites are reinforcing and enhancing the broadcast quality of around nine hundred television channels into more than 160 million homes across Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. These new state-of-the-art satellites are also bringing advanced features to 13° East, including in-orbit redundancy ability and uplink signal protection and resilience,” said Eutelsat.
“The Hotbird video neighbourhood is host to 7 premium TV platforms, over 600 pay-TV channels, 300 free-to-air channels, and 500 HDTV and UHD channels. With its unique pan-European coverage, in Europe alone Hotbird reaches 130 million homes. The satellites also distribute TV channels to 90 per cent of cable and IPTV operators in the Europe and MENA region, making 13° East the leading DTH, cable, IP, and DTT provider across the region. With their entry into service, the Hotbird 13F and 13G satellites are releasing the three satellites previously located at 13° East, to carry out new missions.
Built by manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space, the satellites are based on the new generation Eurostar Neo telecommunications satellite platform, developed under an ESA partnership project with Airbus designed to foster innovation and competitiveness in the European space industry.