Alenia Spazio, a Finmeccanica company, and Arianespace announce today the contract for the launch of the Atlantic Bird 1 satellite. The satellite will be used and operated by Eutelsat as part of its fleet.
Atlantic Bird 1 will be lofted by an Ariane 5 in the second half of 2002 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. It will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 12.5 degrees West, above the Atlantic Ocean.
Built by Alenia Spazio, this satellite will be optimized to provide broadcast services, telecommunications and IP based networks. With a mass at lift-off of about 2 700 kg, it will provide 24 active Ku-band transponders with coverage over Europe and the Eastern coast of the Americas. Atlantic Bird 1 will have an operating lifetime of about 15 years.
This is the first launch contract signed between Alenia Spazio and Arianespace but the European launcher has already orbited 4 satellites built by Alena Spazio. Atlantic Bird 1 will be the 18th satellite launched by Arianespace and operated by Eutelsat. Arianespace has two more Eutelsat satellites on its orderbook.
