An Ariane 5 rocket launches a giant 6.4-ton Eutelsat

Sep. 8 () –

An Ariane 5 rocket has successfully launched into space the largest satellite conceived by the satellite telecommunications operator Eutelsat.

At 9 meters tall, Eutelsat Konnect VHTS measures the equivalent of a three-story building; its wingspan exceeds 45 meters and its mass is 6.4 tons at takeoff.

Based on Thales Alenia Space’s Spacebus NEO electric platform, it has been designed for a nominal service life of more than 15 years and has been developed with the support of the French and European space agencies, CNES and ESA, respectively.

Manufactured by Thales Alenia Space, the satellite was successfully launched on September 7 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, informs the ESA.

Eutelsat Konnect VHTS will provide high-speed mobile and broadband connectivity throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. With a capacity of 500 Gbps in the Ka band, it is the largest and most powerful geostationary communications satellite ever built in Europe.

In particular, it carries on board the most powerful embedded digital processor ever put into orbit, that allows great flexibility in the allocation of capacity and facilitates optimal use of the spectrum.