Eutelsat Launches India-Focussed Satellite — W5

Eutelsat leading satellite service provider announced that it has successfully launched W5 satellite by a Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. W5 will be positioned at 70.5 degrees East, a key orbital position that presents Eutelsat with the opportunity to substantially reinforce its market presence in the whole of Asia in complement to the company’s SESAT satellite. Eutelsat CEO Mr. Giuliano Berretta, remarked: "The launch of W5 sees Eutelsat continuing to fulfill its strategic objective of geographic expansion. We believe W5’s central Asian position at 70.5 degrees East will become the satellite of choice for broadcasters, service providers and other users both for regional communications in Asia and connections between Asia and Europe."

Equipped with 24 Ku-band transponders with 72 MHz bandwidth, W5 is configured with one fixed Widebeam covering western Europe, central Asia and the Indian sub-continent and two steerable spotbeams. The steerable spotbeams can cover north-east Asia including the whole of China and Mongolia as far as Korea and southern Japan, and south-east Asia as far as northern parts of Australia.

The company claims that W5 will be capable of delivering a full range of digital communications services: video distribution and contribution links, occasional-use video and particularly Satellite News Gathering (SNG), as well as Internet backbone connections. Through a new bundled turnaround onto Eutelsat's Digital Platforms on its HOT BIRD ?broadcasting satellites that reach an estimated 96 million cable and satellite homes, Eutelsat will also be able to offer Indian broadcasters seamless connectivity directly into Europe.