SpaceX Launches the Eutelsat 36D Satellite

Eutelsat 36D launch on March 30, 2024. Photo: SpaceX

SpaceX launched the Airbus-built Eutelsat 36D telecommunications satellite for Eutelsat Group over the weekend. It was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 30. 

Eutelsat selected Airbus in March 2021 to build Eutelsat 36D. This is the 22nd Airbus-built communications satellite for Eutelsat.

Eutelsat 36D is based on Airbus’s Eurostar Neo Geostationary (GEO) communications satellites. It will provide TV broadcasting and government services over Africa, Europe, and eastern countries, with a planned lifetime of more than 15 years.

The all-electric Eutelsat 36D is equipped with 70 physical Ku-band transponders, to improve coverage and performance for the continuation of Eutelsat 36B at the 36 degrees° East orbital position. 

“We are looking forward to its entry into service in the second half of calendar 2024. This is also an opportunity to take our long-lasting relationship with Airbus to the next level. My congratulations to the Eutelsat Group, Airbus, and SpaceX teams for the completion of another successful satellite program, ” said Eva Berneke, CEO of Eutelsat Group.

The Eutelsat 36D was shipped from Toulouse, France to Sanford, Florida, on board an Airbus BelugaST on March 11.