Eutelsat 5 West B Solar Array Gets Damaged

Artist’s rendition of Eutelsat 5 West B. Photo: Orbital ATK

Eutelsat Communications is currently investigating an incident on one of the two solar arrays on its Eutelsat 5 West B satellite. The company is working to assess the potential impact on the performance of the satellite and will communicate on it as quickly as possible, according to the release.

The satellite was launched on Oct. 9 to replace Eutelsat 5 West A, which will remain operational in orbit at 5 degrees West and carry out other missions. Eutelsat 5 West B will also host the GEO-3 payload of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) under a 15-year agreement signed in 2017 with the European GNSS Agency (GSA), and valued at approximately $112 million dollars (102 million euros).

Revenues generated in Financial Year (FY) 2018-19 by Eutelsat 5 West A amounted to about $33.3 million (30 million euros). Eutelsat 5 West B is fully insured against the eventuality of loss by a launch-plus-one-year insurance.