Posted: Mon, Jul 28, 2003, 9:31 AM ET (1331 GMT)
Eutelsat has selected Alcatel to build the replacement for a satellite lost in a launch failure last year, the two companies announced Monday. Alcatel will build the Hot Bird 7A spacecraft for launch in the fall of 2005. The satellite will be a Spacebus 3000B3 model with 38 Ku-band transponders and be located at 13 degrees East, replacing Hot Bird 1. Eutelsat will use Hot Bird 7A to provide additional capacity for satellite elevision broadcasting, augmenting several other Eutelsat spacecraft collocated in the same orbital slot. The spacecraft is a replacement for Hot Bird 7, which was lost in the failure of the maiden flight of the Ariane 5 ECA last December. Terms of the satellite contract were not disclosed. The contract is the fourth commercial communications satellite contract won by Alcatel in the last two months; the company had previously won contracts with customers in Africa, Brazil, and South Korea.

Related Links:

•  Alcatel press release