Eurostar is a satellite bus made by Airbus Defence and Space (formerly Astrium, and before 1994, formerly United Satellite, a consortium of British Aerospace, and Matra Marconi Space (the former Marconi Space merged with Matra's former Matra Espace)) which has been used for a series of spacecraft providing telecommunications services in geosynchronous orbit (GEO). More than 70 Eurostar satellites have been ordered to date, of which more than 55 have been successfully launched since October 1990 and have proven highly reliable in operational service. In December 2013, the Eurostar satellites accumulated 500 years of successful operations in orbit. The Eurostar spacecraft series is designed for a variety of telecommunications needs including fixed services and broadcast, mobile services, broadband and secured communications.
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Development
Eurostar was designed in the mid 1980s jointly by Matra Marconi Space and BAe (as United Satellite, now integrated within Airbus Defence and Space) to an internally developed specification, for a market which at the time had a design envelope of 1.8-2.5 Tons on the proposed launch vehicles (STS PAM D2 and Ariane 4). Satellite payload power was from 1300 to 2600 W. This was the first commercial satellite to have a digital avionics system modular in concept. With this system architecture, all key satellite parameters are in software, which permits mission specific requirements to be implemented without hardware changes. The initial satellite structure and configuration designed to early requirements had significant growth potential, which subsequently allowed the payload capability (mass and power) to be more quadrupled between 1987 and 1992, with a minimum of re qualification. Airbus DS has since developed further the product line in a staged process which mainly increases the satellite power and propulsion capability and real estate for accommodation of equipment and antennas. The overall configuration of Eurostar satellites has essentially not changed in 20 years through the successive generations Eurostar E1000, E2000, E2000+ and E3000. They have just become larger, more powerful, with implementation costs reduced through longer orbit manoeuvring lifetime, and more efficient and powerful payloads. Nowadays the Eurostar E3000 series has been considerably enhanced and updated with the latest technologies, still maintaining the basic proven configuration. A new version E3000e introduced in 2014 uses electric propulsion for orbit raising.
Range
The Eurostar E3000 satellite model currently available offers power payload ranging from 4 to 15 kW. Satellites launch mass usually ranges between 4,000 and 6,000 kg.
Modularity
The Eurostar satellite structures are modular with a separate Service-Propulsion module and Communications module. Figure <tbn> shows the modular design of the E3000 series around a compact Service module.
Satellites
List of Eurostar satellites