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Satnews Daily
October 17th, 2012

EUTELSAT + Sea Launch... Delivered For Departure (Launch)



Artistic rendition of the EUTELSAT-70B satellite
[SatNews] The EUTELSAT-70B satellite has arrived in Long Beach, California and been transported to the...

...Sea Launch “Home Port” facility. Following unloading, the satellite was delivered to the clean room area of the 16-acre sites payload processing facility where mission operations and integration efforts are now underway.

After standalone spacecraft operations are completed, EUTELSAT-70B will be handed over to Sea Launch’s prime contractor, Energia Logistics, Ltd., to be mated with the payload support structure and integrated with the Zenit-3SL launch vehicle before departure to the launch site in November. The launch of the EUTELSAT-70B satellite is scheduled for the early December timeframe.

The EUTELSAT-70B communications satellite departed from the Toulouse, France, manufacturing facilities of Astrium, an EADS company, on October 15th and arrived at the Long Beach Airport (LGB) on-board an Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft yesterday. It was subsequently transferred via surface roads on an oversized transport vehicle with representatives from Eutelsat, Astrium, and Energia Logistics Ltd. on hand to receive the spacecraft.

EUTELSAT-70B will be located at 70.5 degrees East longitude in geostationary orbit where it will replace EUTELSAT-70A, significantly increasing resources and flexibility at an established orbital location. This new high-capacity Ku-band satellite will be used for a range of professional applications that include government services, broadband access, GSM backhauling and professional video exchanges in Europe, Africa and Central and South-East Asia.