Eutelsat Konnect

Eutelsat Konnect is a geostationary communications satellite operated by Eutelsat.^[1] The satellite was designed and manufactured by Thales Alenia Space on the Spacebus NEO 100 platform, and was launched on 16 January 2020 on an Ariane 5 ECA. The satellite provides broadband internet and communications coverage to Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.^[2]

Eutelsat Konnect

Artist's impression of Eutelsat Konnect satellite
Names	African Broadband Satellite
Mission type	Communication
Operator	Eutelsat
COSPAR ID	2020-005B
SATCAT no.	45027
Mission duration	15 years (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	SB NEO 100
Bus	Spacebus NEO
Manufacturer	Thales Alenia Space
Launch mass	3619 kg
Power	20 kW
Start of mission
Launch date	16 January 2020, 21:05:00 UTC
Rocket	Ariane 5 ECA (VA-251)
Launch site	Kourou, ELA-3
Contractor	Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Geostationary orbit
Longitude	2.7° East
Transponders
Band	Ka-band
Coverage area	Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa
Eutelsat

History

In October 2015, Eutelsat ordered a next-generation communications satellite originally named the African Broadband Satellite.^[2] The satellite was ordered as part of Eutelsat's move to expand in the African communications market.^[1] Thales Alenia Space contracted launch on an Ariane 5 ECA, co-manifested with another payload as is usual, GSAT-30.

Spacecraft

Eutelsat Konnect is built on the Spacebus NEO 100 platform, an all-electric satellite bus designed with funding and support from the European Space Agency (ESA) and French agency, CNES. In addition to providing more communications capacity, the new platform provided significant manufacturing cost reductions compared to previous geostationary satellites.^[3] Eutelsat Konnect carries a high-throughput Ka-band communications payload, providing 75 Gbps of capacity through 65 spot beams.^[2]

Launch

On 16 January 2020 at 21:05:00 UTC, Eutelsat Konnect was launched to on an Ariane 5 ECA.^[3] The launch was shared with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) communications satellite GSAT-30.^[4] Approximately 28 minutes after launch, Eutelsat Konnect separated from the SYLDA fairing and was released into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).^[5]