ARIANESPACE BLASTS OFF TWO SATELLITES

Arianespace successfully launched two direct broadcast satellites, W2 and Sirius 3, on 5 October.

W2 is an Eutelsat satellite built by Alcatel Space Industries with 24 Ku-band transponders. Located at 16 degrees east, it will provide direct broadcast and multimedia services to the entire European continent, north Africa, west Asia, Reunion Island and Mauritius.

Sirius 3 is a Hughes Space satellite built for Swedish company NSAB with 14 Ku-band transponders. Positioned at 28.2 degrees east, the satellite will be used to provide digital direct broadcasting services to all Scandanavian countries and Europe.