[Satellite News 10-29-10] For the second time in two years, Eutelsat has seen its capacity expansion efforts dashed shortly after a launch. After a problem with the propulsion system on the W3B satellite, Eutelsat declared the satellite a complete loss Oct. 29 and the operator now finds itself without a spacecraft to replace the aging Eurobird 16 and Sesat 1 or make up for the capacity it lost after its W2M satellite experienced a defect in its power subsystem in January 2009.
    W3B, built by Thales Alenia Space, carried 56 transponders, including three in Ka-band and was slated for Eutelsat’s 16 degrees East orbital slot. "The loss of W3B is a disappointment for Eutelsat and for our customers. We share it with our partners, in particular Thales Alenia Space and with the insurance community," Eutelsat CEO Michael de Rosen said in a statement.
    W3B’s main mission was to expand the operator’s broadcasting and telecom/data services footprint and optimize DTH broadcasting for customers in Central Europe. Eutelsat calls 16 degrees East “a point of reference for satellite TV in the region” and, “one of the satellite market’s fastest-growing positions,” with an installed base of 11.2 million satellite and cable homes in Central Europe receiving channels from the position
    The satellite also would provide high-power coverage over Indian Ocean islands and support expansion of pay-TV for almost 400,000 homes, while accelerating digital switchovers in the Indian Ocean region. W3B’s 16 degrees East position also would allow Eutelsat to deliver telecoms and data services to the sub-Saharan Africa region and initiate a new market strategy.
    Over the past year, de Rosen had been selling W3B applications to the oil and gas industry. In March, he visited SMI’s Oil and Gas Satcoms conference in London, to show how W3B’s capacity would respond to high-growth GSM backhaul and Internet access for enterprises, public agencies and consumers. The CEO explained that W3B, along with the Ka-Sat satellite being built by EADS Astrium for launch in the fourth quarter, would form the cornerstone of a major new satellite infrastructure program that will significantly expand capacity for consumer broadband services.
    The loss of W3B puts Eutelsat back at the drawing board and even further behind the capacity race than it was before W2M, which was built to bring the operator’s capacity back to the levels prior to a depointing incident on the W1 satellite in 2005, which resulted in a 50 percent loss of capacity.
     For now, Eutelsat’s three satellites at 16 degrees East will remain in full service until the arrival of W3C, which is scheduled to launch in mid-2011. To compensate for the W3B loss, Eutelsat said it would initiate a new program to build a W3D satellite for a planned launch in the first quarter of 2013.
    Eutelsat is fully insured for the investment in W3B and will not incur any direct financial loss, de Rosen said.