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Update on EUTELSAT 5 West B status

Press release -

Update on EUTELSAT 5 West B status

Paris, 17 January, 2020 – On October 24, 2019, Eutelsat announced an investigation into a malfunction on one of the two solar arrays on its EUTELSAT 5 West B satellite. Pursuant to this investigation, the loss of the satellite’s South solar array has been confirmed. With the exception of the South solar array, the satellite performance remains nominal.

The attendant power loss means c.45% of the capacity of the satellite can be operated.

The satellite is now expected to enter commercial service later in January and is expected to meet the designed life time.

A number of mitigation actions aimed at assuring service continuity will be implemented, following the end of life in stable orbit of EUTELSAT 5 West A, for the largest possible number of customers.

EUTELSAT 5 West B is fully insured against the eventuality of a partial or total loss by a launch-plus-one-year insurance for up to 173 million euros.

The partial non-availability of EUTELSAT 5 West B will reduce Financial Year 2019-20 revenues for the Operating Verticals by 5 to 10 million euros.The one-off cost of mitigation, mostly related to the repointing of ground antennae will be between 0 and 10 million euros.

In consequence, Eutelsat’s revenue objective for Financial Year 2019-20 is mechanically revised to between €1,270 million and €1,315 million for the Operating Verticals.

All other financial objectives are unchanged.

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About Eutelsat Communications

Founded in 1977, Eutelsat Communications is one of the world's leading satellite operators. With a global fleet of satellites and associated ground infrastructure, Eutelsat enables clients across Video, Data, Government, Fixed and Mobile Broadband markets to communicate effectively to their customers, irrespective of their location. Around 7,000 television channels operated by leading media groups are broadcast by Eutelsat to one billion viewers equipped for DTH reception or connected to terrestrial networks. Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat assembles 1,000 men and women from 46 countries who are dedicated to delivering the highest quality of service.

Eutelsat Communications is listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ticker: ETL).

For more about Eutelsat go to www.eutelsat.com

Media enquiries
Marie-Sophie Ecuer Tel.: + 33 1 53 98 37 91 mecuer@eutelsat.com
Jessica Whyte Tel.: + 33 1 53 98 37 91 jwhyte@eutelsat.com
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