* Astronomy

The HOT BIRD 7A broadcasting satellite built by Alcatel Alenia Space for Eutelsat Communications has arrived at the Kourou launch site in French Guiana.
The satellite's scheduled launch date is 21 February 2006 on-board an Ariane 5 ECA rocket.

HOTBIRD7A will be positioned at 13 degrees East, Eutelsat's prime neighbourhood for television and radio broadcasting to satellite and cable homes. Equipped with 38 Ku-band transponders, its dual mission is to replace existing capacity at 13 degrees East and, in conjunction with HOT BIRD8 which is due for launch in second quarter, to provide complete in-orbit redundancy at the HOT BIRD location. Eutelsat's HOT BIRD neighbourhood today hosts 850 television channels and 550 radio stations, serving 110 million homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

With Alcatel Alenia Space as prime contractor (platform and payload), HOT BIRD 7A continues their history of industrial cooperation with Eutelsat that over almost 20 years has seen orders placed for 16 satellites*. Based on Alcatel Alenia Space's Spacebus 3000B3 platform, HOT BIRD 7A has a launch mass of more than 4 tonnes and its solar panels will deliver 10 kW of electrical power. The satellite's lifetime is 15 years.

* 5 EUTELSAT II (F1 to F5), HOT BIRD 1, HOT BIRD 6, HOT BIRD 7A, W2, W3, W4, W5, SESAT 1 (with NPO-PM) EUROBIRD 1, ATLANTIC BIRD 2, ATLANTIC BIRD 3.


Eutelsat Communications is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A. The Group is a leading satellite operator with capacity commercialised on 22 satellites providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas. The Group is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.
Its satellites are used for broadcasting over 1,700 TV and 860 radio stations to nearly 120 million cable and satellite homes. The Group also provides TV contribution services, corporate networks, mobile positioning and communications, Internet backbone connectivity and broadband access for terrestrial, maritime and in-flight applications. Eutelsat Communications is headquartered in Paris, and the Group's workforce comprises over 450 commercial, technical and operational employees from 25 countries.