Eutelsat Communications announces that its new EUTELSAT 8 West B has been fully powered up and is already broadcasting TV channels to over 52 million homes in the Middle East and North Africa. Launched on August 20 by an Ariane 5 rocket, the new high-power satellite is co-located with a constellation of satellites operated by Eutelsat and Nilesat at the 7/8 degrees West neighbourhood.
Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) announces that its EUTELSAT 8 West B satellite was successfully launched into orbit by an Ariane 5 rocket on August 20 at 20.34 UTC (17.34 in Kourou). Partial deployment of the solar panels of the 5.8 tonne satellite was completed within four hours of separation.
Eutelsat Communications and Nilesat, the Egyptian satellite operator, announced that Nilesat has taken a long-term lease for multiple transponders on the EUTELSAT 8 West B satellite to be launched in mid-2015 to the leading video neighbourhood in the Middle East and North Africa.