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Broadcast services in North Africa are going to benefit from the launch of Eutelsat Communications’ latest satellite, EUTELSAT 8 West B

The satellite has arrived at the European spaceport in French Guiana and is now in final stages of preparation for launch by an Ariane 5 rocket on 20 August 2015.

EUTELSAT 8 West B will shore up the 7/8° West position, hosting Eutelsat and Nilesat satellites, which is the points of reference for television viewing in over 52mn households spread across a wide area in North Africa and Middle East, from Morocco in the west to the Gulf in the east. With the launch of this new satellite, broadcasters will have the bandwidth available to deliver high definition (HD) content immediately. In the future, they will also have the bandwidth to delivery ultra HD content.

Built for Eutelsat by Thales Alenia Space, the satellite weighs 5.8 tonnes and is equipped with 40 operational Ku-band transponders optimised to serve DTH markets in North Africa and the Middle East. It will also introduce a C-band mission of 10 operational transponders connected to a vast footprint covering the African continent and reaching west to South America.

Following its launch on 20 August, the satellite will go into full commercial service in early October this year, following checks to validate its performance in orbit.

Eutelsat’s satellites provide ubiquitous coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, enabling video, data, broadband and government communications to be established irrespective of a user’s location.

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