Hot Bird

Hot Bird
Industry Satellite communication
Founded 1995
Headquarters Paris, France
Website eutelsat.com

Hot Bird is the name of a popular family of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13°E over the Equator (orbital position) and with a transmitting footprint over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Only digital radio and television channels are transmitted by the Hot Bird constellation, both free-to-air and encrypted. In addition there are a few interactive and IP services. The satellites currently operate at 13° East and are numbered 6, 8 and 9.

Contents

List of satellites

Name[1] Launch Location Current Location Launch date Status
Hot Bird 1 Kourou Junk orbit 28 March 1995 Inactive
Hot Bird 2 (Eurobird 9) Cape Canaveral 48°E 21 November 1996 Active
Hot Bird 3 (Eurobird 4) Kourou Junk orbit 2 September 1997 Inactive
Hot Bird 4 (Atlantic Bird 4) Kourou 16°E 27 February 1998 Active
Hot Bird 5 (Eurobird 2) Cape Canaveral 25.5°E 9 October 1998 Active
Hot Bird 6 Cape Canaveral 13°E 21 August 2002 Active
Hot Bird 7 Kourou n/a - aborted launch 11 November 2002 Failed
Hot Bird 7A (Eurobird 9A) Kourou 9°E 12 March 2006 Active
Hot Bird 8 Baikonur 13°E 4 August 2006 Active
Hot Bird 9 Kourou 13°E 20 December 2008 Active
Hot Bird 10 (EUTELSAT 3C) Kourou 3°E February 2009 Active

Satellite details

Hot Bird 1

Hot Bird 1 was launched by Ariane 44LP in 28 March 1995. The 13° East slot predates the launch, with Eutelsat 1F1 having been located there as early as 1983, and Eutelsat 2F1 having also served time at the location. It has reached end-of-life.

Hot Bird 3

Hot Bird 3 was launched by Ariane 44LP in 02 sep 1997 and intended to be moved to 10°E to become Eurobird 10. During the drift from 13°E to 10°E, the satellite suffered loss of power from one solar array. It was nevertheless successfully moved to 10°E, but could only operate at a reduced capacity. Since then, it is operating at 4°E under the name Eurobird 4. At last it moved to 75°E and its and renamed to ABS_1B. It has reached end-of-life.

Hot Bird 4

Hot Bird 4 was launched by Ariane 42P in 27 Feb 1998 and redeployed to 7°W in July 2006, becoming Atlantic Bird 4 / Nilesat 103

Hot Bird 5

Hot Bird 5 was launched by Atlas-2A in 09 Oct 1998 and re-located to 25.5°E and renamed Eurobird 2. Six transponders are leased to Arabsat under the name Badr 2, after having been called Arabsat 2D.

Hot Bird 6

Hot Bird 6 was launched by Atlas V 401 in 21 July 2002. Starting on 12 June 2009, the day of Iranian elections, deliberate interference affecting this satellite was traced to Iran. Hot Bird 6 is the primary carrier for BBC Persian Television.[2]

Hot Bird 7/7A

Hot Bird 7 was lost in December 2002 during the Ariane 5 ECA launch. Its replacement, Hot Bird 7A (a Spacebus 3000B3) was successfully launched on 11 March 2006.

Hot Bird 8

Hot Bird 8 was launched by Proton_(rocket) in 5 August 2006. With a launch mass of 4.9 tonnes, Hot Bird 8 is the largest and the most powerful broadcast satellite serving Europe.

Hot Bird 9

Hot Bird 9 was launched by Ariane 5 ECA in December 2008. Its entry into service enabled the Hot Bird 7A satellite to be redeployed to 9° East and rebranded Eurobird 9A, increasing capacity to 38 Ku band transponders at this orbital position.

Hot Bird 10

Hot Bird 10 was launched by Ariane 5 ECA in February 2009 with NSS-9, Spirale A and Spirale B. It will support Eutelsat's expansion at 7° West, a key video neighbourhood for the Middle East. The EUTELSAT 3C (new name) satellite, having completed its mission at 7 degrees West as ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A, has now been redeployed to 3 degrees East. Here, it will address data and telecoms markets in Europe and South-West Asia with high-power Ku-band coverage. It is colocated at 3 degrees East with EUTELSAT 3A. Eutelsat has expanded its commercial response to high-growth video, data, telecom and broadband markets with the opening of business at the 3° East orbital position.

Packages broadcast on Hot Bird

Free-To-Air channels

Up to 1000 television and radio channels are available Free-To-Air.

List of providers

Name Location Website
Eutelsat France www.eutelsat.com
GLOBCOS NetWorks GmbH Switzerland www.globcos.com
Globecast France www.globecast.com
Wide Network Solutions United Kingdom www.widenetworks.net
SKY Italia Italy www.sky.it
Arqiva United Kingdom www.arqiva.com
RRSat Israel www.rrsat.com
SatLink Israel www.satlink.tv

References

External links

Official
Channel lists
Footprints