Eutelsat

Eutelsat’s KA-SAT goes live Bringing broadband to households in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin

Eutelsat announced on 31 May 2011 the com- Europe’s broadband map shows that at least 13 mil- mercial entry into service of its KA-SAT high- lion households are still beyond range of ADSL (asym- throughput , marking the offi cial launch metric digital subscriber line), and 17 million access of its new-generation “Tooway” broadband the at speeds below 2 Mbit/s. Operated by service. Eutelsat’s Skylogic affi liate, Tooway can provide homes with an always-on service delivering speeds of up to “The entry into service of KA-SAT, the world’s most 10 Mbit/s downstream and 4 Mbit/s upstream. powerful spotbeam satellite, turns a new page in af- For private networks, broadband access for busi- fordable and immediately available IP solutions, and nesses and institutions, back-up services and remote places Europe at the forefront of high-capacity satellite monitoring, the Tooway terminal can deliver speeds of technologies that can serve to quickly close the broad- up to 40 Mbit/s downstream and 10 Mbit/s upstream. band gap. We look forward to working with our service KA-SAT’s high throughput Ka-band capability also opens and technology partners to unleash the huge potential opportunities for cost effective satellite news gathering of this new pan-European wireless infrastructure,” com- using lightweight easily transportable uplink antennas mented Eutelsat CEO Michel de Rosen. connected to the basic Tooway modem.

46 ITU News  5 | 2011  June 2011

Built for Eutelsat by Astrium, KA-SAT’s payload with will make it possible to deliver Internet connectivity at 82 narrow spotbeams connected to 10 ground sta- speeds comparable to ADSL for more than one million tions enables frequencies to be reused 20 times and homes in Europe and large parts of the Mediterranean takes total throughput to beyond 70 Gbit/s. This sat- Basin. ellite’s, combined with on-ground network technology,

Arianespace launch a success: Yahsat Y1A and New Dawn in orbit

On 22 April 2011, orbited two “Intelsat and the African continent share a 40-year communication satellites: Yahsat Y1A, built by history in the development of Africa’s telecommunica- Astrium and for Al Yah Sat- tions infrastructure,” said Dave McGlade, Intelsat CEO. ellite Communications Company (Yahsat) of the “Intelsat New Dawn will be integrated with the resilient United Arab Emirates, and Intelsat New Dawn, Intelsat fl eet, allowing us to expand and enhance the built by Orbital Sciences Corporation for New vital communication services that are provided by our Dawn Satellite Company Ltd., a joint venture customers to business consumers throughout Africa.” between Intelsat and Convergence Partners. Operating from a geostationary orbital slot at 32.8° The mission was carried out by an Ariane 5 ECA East, Intelsat New Dawn will be ideally positioned to launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, serve Africa through a payload optimized to deliver French Guiana (see photo). new capacity for voice, wireless backhaul, fi xed line and wireless infrastructure, broadband and media – the fast- est growing satellite-based applications in Africa. Intelsat New Dawn to expand Africa’s Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, communication infrastructure said, “The satellite will not only deliver crucial servic- The satellite’s 28 C-band and 24 Ku-band 36 MHz es specifi cally tailored for Africa, it will also herald the transponder units are designed to supply critical com- dawn of a new era where Africans enjoy far greater in- munications infrastructure to African customers and volvement in the space communications industry.” meet the needs arising from the exceptional growth and development of the region.

ITU News  5 | 2011  June 2011 47 Satellites S. Martin — 2011 ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Photo Optique vidéo du CSG

An Ariane 5 ECA launcher placed two telecommunication satellites into geostationary orbit, the United Arab Emirates satellite Yahsat Y1A built by Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, which will supply high-defi nition television to the Middle East, Africa, Europe and South-West Asia, and the Intelsat New Dawn satellite, built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, which will offer a range of services to Africa, including Internet, media and data networks

Yahsat Y1A to provide public Since the start of the fi rst commercial satellite sys- telecommunications network tems in the 1960s up to the recent launches of the Yahsat’s first satellite has successfully arrived at Yahsat and New Dawn satellites, ITU has been a partner its point of operations, 52.5˚E, roughly above the of the satellite industry, performing the vital technical United Arab Emirates. In this operational position, coordination and oversight functions essential to the the Yahsat Y1A satellite now has a service area that ongoing growth of the industry, said François Rancy, includes Africa, Europe, the Middle East and South- Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau, speak- West Asia. ing at the Global Space and Satellite Forum 2011, held “This is a very signifi cant step as we move towards on 9 May 2011 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. activating Yahsat’s services for our customers across “Satellites have emerged as one of the key enablers the coverage regions,” said Jassem Mohamed Al Zaabi, of economic and social development. Vast distances, CEO of Yahsat and Executive Director of Mubadala geographical challenges, the high-speed demands of Information, Communications and Technology. new technologies and increasing pressure to realize After its successful launch, the satellite performed a economies of scale make satellites the obvious, and of- series of manoeuvres which brought it from an ellipti- ten the only, choice,” he added. Effi cient and equitable cal transfer orbit to its fi nal circular geostationary orbit use of spectrum and orbit resources requires a coordi- some 35 786 km above . It will provide both gov- nated and transparent international approach. But ef- ernment and commercial customers innovative broad- fective management of these resources also requires the band solutions and high-defi nition television (HDTV) goodwill and cooperation of industry and governments. services. It has a design life of 15 years. For satellite communications to continue to fl ourish, everybody must play by the rules, said Rancy.

48 ITU News  5 | 2011  June 2011