Eutelsat 8 West B

Eutelsat 8 West B is a geostationary communications satellite. Operated by Eutelsat, it provides direct-to-home broadcasting services from geostationary orbit. The satellite is part of Eutelsat's constellation at a longitude of 8° West. Eutelsat announced the order of a new Spacebus-4000C3 satellite bus from Thales Alenia Space in October 2012.

Satellite description

Eutelsat 8 West B is a satellite with a design life of 15 years. It is equipped with an S400-12 apogee motor which was used for initial orbit-raising manoeuvres and an S10-18 engine for station keeping burns. The spacecraft has 10 C-band and 40 Ku-band transponders.

Launch

Eutelsat 8 West B was launched on the Ariane 5ECA launch vehicles from Centre Spatial Guyanais at the Kourou in French Guiana. Liftoff occurred at 20:34:08 UTC on 20 August 2015, with the launch vehicle successfully injecting its payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The launch was conducted by Arianespace.

Mission

Following launch, the satellite Eutelsat 8 West B used its apogee motor to raise itself into geostationary orbit, positioning itself at a longitude of 8° West. Capacity leased by Nilesat is marketed as Nilesat 104B.