Eutelsat 31A

Eutelsat 31A, formerly e-Bird, Eurobird 3 and Eutelsat 33A, is a communications satellite that offers capacity for broadband and broadcast services in Europe. It is owned by Eutelsat.

Eutelsat 31A

Names	e-Bird (2003–2006) Eurobird 3 (2006–2012) Eutelsat 33A (2012–2014) Eutelsat 31A (2014–present)
Mission type	Communications
Operator	Eutelsat
COSPAR ID	2003-043A
SATCAT no.	27948
Mission duration	10 years (achieved) 21 years, 10 months, 3 days (in orbit)
Spacecraft properties
Bus	BSS-376
Manufacturer	Boeing
Launch mass	1,530 kilograms (3,370 lb)
Dry mass	888 kilograms (1,958 lb)
Power	watts
Start of mission
Launch date	27 September 2003, 23:14:46 (2003-09-27UTC23:14:46Z) UTC
Rocket	Ariane 5G
Launch site	Kourou ELA-3
Contractor	Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geostationary
Longitude	31° East
Transponders
Band	20 Ku-band
Coverage area	Continental Europe Great Britain Scandinavia Turkey

Positioned at 31° East - having been relocated from 33° East in May 2014^[1] - Eutelsat 31A is optimised for interactive broadband services, and also valued by broadcasters for occasional use and professional video services, and data networks like Estar by Technologie Satelitarne service.

Its 20 K_u band transponders are connected to four spot beams over Europe and Turkey. These four beams overlap to allow hubs located in the hot spots of each beam to communicate with each other, thus ensuring highly effective pan-European coverage.