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TS News - Hot Bird 2 Makes Pit Stop At New Location

TELE-satellit News, 9 December 1996

Hot Bird 2 Makes Pit Stop At New Location
  LUBECK, Germany, 96/12/06 (Sat-ND) -- It was by no means a coincidence
that Eutelsat Hot Bird 2 took a short stop at 29 degrees East on the way to
its final slot at 13 degrees East. It wasn't the usual in-orbit testing
that could be observed at 29 degrees East though.

  Actually, the manoeuvre was an attempt to keep Eutelsat's biggest
competitor, Luxembourg's SES and their Astra satellites, away from that
orbital position. Both Eutelsat and SES had filed the 29 degrees East slot
with the International Telecommunications Union in Geneva.

  Although Eutelsat holds the older rights, it was running the risk of
losing the allocation simply because no Eutelsat had ever appeared there,
or even in the vicinity of this position.

  This explains some statements by Eutelsat that look pretty weird at first
sight. The European satellite and telecommunications company, for example,
let it be known that Hot Bird 2 was regularly stationed at 29 degrees East,
albeit just for a few days, and had been transmitting "regular programming"
from there.

  By: Peter Klanowski
  Source: Sat ND
(c)TELE-satellit 1996. All rights reserved.
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