SESAT, The latest Eutelsat satellite, was launched by a Proton DM booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 17 April. The spacecraft will be located at 36íE in geostationary orbit (GEO) and is equipped with 16 Ku-band transponders, providing communications services to Europe, western Siberia, North Africa, India and the Middle East. It is the first spacecraft built for Eutelsat by Russia's NPO PM, with the communications payload provided by Alcatel Espace. SESAT will be joined in 36° GEO by the W4 satellite to be launched on the first Atlas IIIA booster from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 15 May.
Source: Flight International