please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message eutelsat s.a. type public traded as euronext etl industry satellite communication founded 1977 headquarters paris france key people rodolphe belmer ceo website www.eutelsat.com eutelsat s.a. is a french based satellite provider . providing coverage over the entire european continent as well as the middle east africa india and significant parts of asia and the americas it is one of the world s three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues . citation needed eutelsat s satellites are used for broadcasting 6 000 television stations of which 600 are in hd and 1100 radio stations to over 274 million cable and satellite homes . they also serve requirements for tv contribution services corporate networks mobile communications internet backbone connectivity and broadband access for terrestrial maritime and in flight applications . eutelsat is headquartered in paris . eutelsat communications chief executive officer is currently rodolphe belmer . 1 its main craft have traditionally operated from four positions each separated by three degrees at geostationary orbit ; 7 10 13 and 16 e ; although more positions are now operated . contents 1 history 2 services 3 satellites 3.1 rented capacity 3.2 former satellites 4 bibliography 5 references 6 external links history edit european telecommunications satellite organization membership the european telecommunications satellite organization eutelsat was originally set up in 1977 as an intergovernmental organisation igo to develop and operate a satellite based telecommunications infrastructure for europe . in 1982 eutelsat decided to start operations of its first tv channel sky channel or sky 1 on the orbital test satellite ots in cooperation with esa the european space agency . this was the first satellite based direct to home tv channel launched in europe . in 1983 eutelsat launched its first satellite to be used for telecommunications and tv distribution initially established to address satellite telecommunications demand in western europe eutelsat rapidly developed its infrastructure to expand coverage to additional services i.e. tv and markets such as central and eastern europe in 1989 and the middle east the african continent and large parts of asia and the americas from the 1990s . eutelsat was the first satellite operator in europe to broadcast television channels direct to home . it developed its premium neighbourhood of five hot bird satellites in the mid 1990s to offer capacity that would be able to attract hundreds of channels to the same orbital location appealing to widespread audiences for consumer satellite tv . with the general liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in europe the igo s operations and activities were transferred to a private company called eutelsat s.a. in july 2001 . in april 2005 the principal shareholders of eutelsat s.a. grouped their investment in a new entity eutelsat communications which is now the holding company of the group owning 95.2 % of eutelsat s.a. on october 6 2005 . currently it owns 96.0 % of eutelsat s.a. 2 on july 31 2013 eutelsat communications announced the 100 % acquisition of sat lites mexicanos s.a. de c.v. satmex for 831 million in cash plus assumption of 311 million in satmex debt pending government and regulatory approvals . 3 the transaction was finalized on january 2 2014 . based in mexico satmex operates three satellites at contiguous positions 113 west satmex 6 114.9 west satmex 5 and 116.8 west satmex 8 that cover 90 % of the population of the americas . services edit 1 10 scale mockup of a eutelsat w3 satellite a spacebus 4000c3 image does not show w3b for comparison actual w3b photo video applications professional data networks broadband services direct broadcasting of tv and radio private networks ip backbone connectivity cable distribution data broadcasting virtual private networks satellite newsgathering business tv videoconferencing broadband internet access on ground at sea in flight programme exchanges mobile services messaging positioning multicasting and ip content distribution satellites edit eutelsat commercializes capacity on 40 satellites located in geosynchronous orbit between 116 degrees west and 172 degrees east . on 1 march 2012 eutelsat changed the names of its satellites . the group s satellites mostly take the eutelsat name with the relevant figure for their orbital position and a letter indicating their order of arrival at that position . on 21 may 2014 eutelsat americas formerly satmex aligned its satellite names with the eutelsat brand . 4 satellite cospar id location regions served launch comments eutelsat 3b 2014 030a e003 3 e europe africa the middle east central asia brazil 2014 05 26 entered service in july 5 eutelsat 5 west a 2002 035a w005 5 w europe americas africa 2002 07 05 formerly named atlantic bird 3 until march 2012 was also called stellat 5 eutelsat 7a 2004 008a e007 7 e europe middle east africa 2004 03 16 formerly named eutelsat w3a until march 2012 eutelsat 7b 2013 022a e007 7 e europe middle east africa 2013 05 14 eutelsat 7 west a 2011 051a w007 7 w middle east north africa 2011 09 24 formerly named atlantic bird 7 until march 2012 eutelsat 8 west a 2001 042a w008 8 w europe middle east americas 2001 09 25 formerly named atlantic bird 2 until march 2012 eutelsat 8 west b 2015 039a w008 8 w africa middle east august 2015 eutelsat 8 west c 6 2002 038a e08wc 8 w europe north africa middle east 2002 08 21 formerly named hot bird 6 until march 2012 eutelsat ka sat 7 8 2010 069a e009 9 e europe 2010 12 26 eutelsat 9b 9 10 2016 005 a e009 9 e europe north africa middle east 2016 1 30 eutelsat 10a 2009 016a e010 10 e europe africa middle east 2009 04 03 formerly named eutelsat w2a until march 2012 ; s band payload not yet entered into service due to an anomaly . 11 12 13 solaris mobile filed the insurance claim and should be able to offer some but not all of the services it was planning to offer . 14 15 16 eutelsat 12 west a 2002 040a w012 .5 12.5 w europe middle east americas 2002 08 28 formerly named atlantic bird 1 until march 2012 eutelsat hot bird 13b 17 2001 011 a e013 13 e europe north africa middle east 2006 08 05 formerly named hot bird 8 until march 2012 eutelsat hot bird 13c 2008 065d e013 13 e europe africa middle east 2008 12 20 formerly named hot bird 9 until march 2012 eutelsat 13e 18 2006 007 b e013 13 e europe north africa middle east 2006 03 11 formerly named eurobird 9a until march 2012 ; former hot bird 7a satellite eutelsat 9a eutelsat 16a 2011 057a e016 16 e europe sub saharan africa indian ocean islands 2011 10 07 formerly named eutelsat w3c until march 2012 eutelsat 16c 2000 019a e016 16 e europe north africa middle east asia 2000 04 18 formerly named sesat 1 until march 2012 ; operating in inclined orbit eutelsat 21b 2012 062b e021 .5 21.5 e europe middle east north africa west africa central asia 2012 11 10 fully operational since 2012 12 19 . 19 eutelsat 25b 2013 044a e025 .5 25.5 e north africa middle east central asia 2013 eutelsat 31a 2003 043a e031 31 e europe 2003 09 27 formerly named eurobird and eutelsat 33a eutelsat 33c 20 2001 011 a e033 33 e europe 2001 03 08 satellite is currently being redeployed at 33 degrees east where it will be co located with eutelsat 33b . formerly named eurobird 1 until march 2012 and eutelsat 28a until july 2015 eutelsat 33e 2009 008b e033 33 e europe south west asia 2009 02 12 formerly hot bird 10 and atlantic bird 4a 21 eutelsat 36a 2000 028a e036 36 e africa russia 2000 05 24 formerly named eutelsat w4 until march 2012 eutelsat 36b 2009 065a e036 36 e europe africa middle east russia 2009 11 24 formerly named eutelsat w7 until march 2012 eutelsat 36c 2015 082a 36 e russia africa 2015 eutelsat 48a 1996 067a e048 48 e central europe middle east central asia 1996 11 21 formerly named eutelsat w48 until march 2012 ; former hot bird 2 and eurobird 9 satellite ; operating in inclined orbit eutelsat 48d 2008 065b e048 48 e afghanistan central asia 2008 12 20 co branded afghansat 1 . formerly named eutelsat 28b until january 2014 eutelsat 48b until august 2012 w2m until march 2012 22 eutelsat 65 west a 2016 014a e065wa 65 w americas 2016 03 09 eutelsat 70b 2012 069a e070 .5 70.5 e europe middle east africa central asia south east asia australia 2012 12 03 eutelsat 113 west a 2006 020a 113 w americas 2006 formerly satmex 6 until may 2014 eutelsat 115 west a 1998 070a 114.8 w americas 1998 formerly satmex 5 until may 2014 eutelsat 115 west b 2015 010b 114.9 w americas 2015 03 02 eutelsat 117 west a 2013 012a 116.8 w americas 2013 formerly satmex 8 until may 2014 eutelsat 172a 2005 052a e172 172 e asia pacific 2005 12 29 formerly the ge 23 satellite eutelsat 117 west b 23 2016 038 b 116.8 w americas 2016 06 15 formerly satmex 9 rented capacity edit satellite location regions served launch eutelsat 28e e028 .2 28.2 e europe 2013 09 29 eutelsat 28f e028 .2 28.2 e europe 2012 09 28 eutelsat 28g e028 .2 28.2 e europe 2014 12 27 express at1 e056 56 e europe asia 2014 03 16 express at2 e140 140 e europe asia 2014 03 16 sesat 2 w015 15 w europe americas 1999 19 10 telstar 12 e053 53 e europe north africa middle east asia 2003 12 29 former satellites edit satellite cospar id primary position launched inclined retired lost comments eutelsat 1f1 1983 058a e013 13 e 1983 1989 1996 n a eutelsat 1f2 1984 081a e007 7 e 1984 1990 1993 n a eutelsat 1f4 1987 078b e007 013 7 13 e 1987 1993 2002 n a eutelsat 1f5 1988 063b e010 10 e 1988 1994 2000 n a eutelsat 2f1 1990 079b e013 13 e 1990 1999 2003 n a eutelsat 2f2 1991 003b e010 10 e 1991 2000 2005 n a eutelsat 2f3 1991 083a e016 16 e 1991 2000 2004 n a eutelsat 2f4 1992 041b e007 7 e 1992 2001 2003 n a hot bird 1 1995 016b e013 13 e 1995 2006 2007 2012 eutelsat w2 1998 056a e016 16 e 1998 n a 2010 n a eutelsat w3b 24 2010 056 a e016 16 e 2010 n a 2010 n a eutelsat w75 1997 049a e004 4 e 1997 n a 2011 n a former hot bird 3 and eurobird 4 satellite eurobird 4a 2000 052a e004 4 e 2000 n a 2012 n a former eutelsat w1 satellite eutelsat 4b 1998 057a e004 4 e 1998 2014 formerly named eurobird 2 until march 2012 now at 4e and called eutelsat 4b eutelsat 16b 1998 013a e016 16 e 1998 2015 n a formerly named eurobird 16 until march 2012 ; former atlantic bird 4 and hot bird 4 satellite eutelsat 33b 2002 051a e025 .5 33 e 2002 2015 formerly named eutelsat w5 until march 2012 ; lost one of two solar panels june 16 2008 25 now at 25e and called eutelsat 25c bibliography edit french english guy leb gue trad . robert j. amral eutelsat ii ok for west to east service in revue aerospatiale n 73 november 1990 . references edit communications executive committee . eutelsat.com . 2009 07 01 . retrieved 2016 02 09 . pdf https web.archive.org web 20110726052534 http www.eutelsat.com investors pdf etl consolidated financial statements 300609.pdf . archived from the original pdf on july 26 2011 . retrieved august 29 2009 . missing or empty