Eutelsat’s W7 launched

Chris Forrester ©RapidTVNews | 24-11-2009

A Russian Proton-M rocket launched Eutelsat's latest craft into orbit on Tuesday. The launch had been delayed for 24-hours.

W7 was launched at 05:19 p.m. Moscow time (1419 GMT), spokesman Alexander Bobrenev was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency. The satellite was orbited from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Approximately nine hours and 12 minutes later, the W7 satellite is scheduled to separate from the booster rocket and move to 36 degrees East for in-orbit testing.

W7 was built by Thales Alenia Space using a Spacebus 4000C4 platform. The heavyweight 5.6-ton satellite is designed to stay in operation for 15 years, providing digital broadcasting for customers in Europe, Africa and Central Asia.

The satellite carries 74 Ku-band transponders and was launched under a contract between Eutelsat and International Launch Services (ILS), a Russian-American joint venture, and will replace the SESAT 1 craft that has been in orbit since 2000.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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