Hotbird 2

Also called Eurobird 9, later Eutelsat W4A, later Eutelsat W48
Renamed Eutelsat 48A in 2012

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General

Designation	24665 / 96067A
Launch date	21 Nov 1996
Country of origin	Europe
Mission	Telecommunications
Geostationary orbit	see below
Launch vehicle	Atlas Centaur #103

Worth $200 million

It seems that the satellite has a fuel tank leak, which has been detected by abnormal fuel consumption. On 21 Mar 2000 the satellite stopped transmitting around 18:30 UT. Service was restored around 02:00 UT on 22 Mar 2000. The satellite apparently went into safe mode.
Power problems occured in March 2007 after a solar flare and to be safe, all services were moved to Hotbird 8.

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Location

Begin	End	Position
L: 21 Nov 1996	5 Dec 1996	29°E
16 Dec 1996	Apr 2007	13°E
May 2007	Feb 2009	9°E (Eurobird 9)
Apr 2009	Aug 2009	40°E inclined (Eutelsat W4A)
Aug 2009	Apr 2017	48°E inclined (Eutelsat W48)

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End of life

Out of service	Apr 2017
Cause	Sent to junk orbit

sat-index articles

Technical data

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Lyngsat transponder loading

EIRP coverage (dBW)
G/T coverage (dB/K)

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Specifications

Prime contractor	Matra Marconi Space
Platform	Eurostar-2000+
Mass at launch	2910 kg
Dry mass	1150 kg
Payload mass	268 kg: transponders: 192 kg, antennas: 76 kg
Dimension	2.5 x 1.7 x 2.6 m
Stabilization	3-axis
DC power	equinox: 5500 W, solstice: 4988 W
Payload power	4188 W
Design lifetime	12-15 years

Telemetry: 2264.818 MHz
Beacon: 11.702200 GHz

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Ku-band (11.45-11.7 GHz & 11.7-12.5 GHz)

Main transponders	20
Backup transponders	10
Power	110 W (TWTA)
Bandwidth	20 transponders of 33 MHz (12 GHz) 5 transponders of 36 MHz (11 GHz) 1 transponder of 72 MHz (11 GHz)
Coverage	super beam: Europe from West to East wide beam: from the Canary Islands to the republics South of Russia and Gulf countries Transponders switchable one by one on each zone
EIRP max	Superbeam: 53 dBW Widebeam: 50 dBW
Polarization	linear H/V
Frequencies	Uplink: 13.8-14.0 GHz and 17.3-18.1 GHz

6 transponders in 12 GHz can be switched in 11 GHz and the 36 MHz transponders can be operated in half-transponder mode.

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Transponder frequency chart (GHz)

Horizontal Uplink	Horizontal Downlink	Transponder	Vertical Downlink	Vertical Uplink	Bandwidth
	11.554410	32/D1		13.85441	36 MHz
13.87516		37/D2	11.575160		36 MHz
	11.595910	33/D3		13.89591	36 MHz
13.91666		38/D4	11.616660		36 MHz
	11.658333	34/D5		13.95833	72 MHz
13.95816		39/D6	11.658160		36 MHz
17.32748		50/E1	11.727480		33 MHz
	11.746660	51/E2		17.34666	33 MHz
17.36584		52/E3	11.765840		33 MHz
	11.785020	53/E4		17.38502	33 MHz
17.40420		54/E5	11.804200		33 MHz
	11.823380	55/E6		17.42338	33 MHz
17.44256		56/E7	11.842560		33 MHz
	11.861740	57E8		17.436174	33 MHz
17.48092		58/E9	11.880920		33 MHz
	11.900100	59/E10		17.50010	33 MHz
17.51928		60/E11	11.919280		33 MHz
	11.938460	61/E12		17.53846	33 MHz
17.55764		62/E13	11.957640		33 MHz
	11.976820	63/E14		17.57682	33 MHz
17.59600		64/E15	11.996000		33 MHz
	12.015180	65/E16		17.61518	33 MHz
17.63436		66/E17	12.034360		33 MHz
	12.053540	67/E18		17.65254	33 MHz
17.67272		68/E19	12.072720		33 MHz
	12.091900	69/E20		17.69190	33 MHz

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