The Eurostar E3000 is a generic satellite model most commonly used for commercial and military

communications satellites A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Radi ...

manufactured by

Airbus Defence and Space Airbus Defence and Space is the division of Airbus SE responsible for the development and manufacturing of the corporation's defence and space products, while also providing related services. The division was formed in January 2014 during the ...

(formerly

Astrium Astrium was an aerospace manufacturer subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) that provided civil and military space systems and services from 2006 to 2013. In 2012, Astrium had a turnover of €5.8 billion and 18 ...

). It is a member of Airbus Defence and Space's

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...

family. It utilises a chemical, bi-propellant propulsion system for

orbit raising In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an physical body, object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an satellite, artificial satellite around an object or pos ...

and on-station manoeuvres with an optional plasma propulsion system (PPS). The PPS harnesses the Newtonian effect as a result of the ionisation of

xenon Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

gas employed by the use of

Hall effect The Hall effect is the production of a voltage difference (the Hall voltage) across an electrical conductor that is transverse to an electric current in the conductor and to an applied magnetic field perpendicular to the current. It was disco ...

plasma thrusters. This system is most commonly used for north–south station-keeping. The E3000 was the first commercial satellite family to use lithium–ion batteries rather than the older nickel-based technologies for power supply during eclipses. The E3000 bus can be modified extensively to meet customer requirements, but most of the E3000 satellites have a launch mass of between , and solar arrays between providing between nine and sixteen kilowatts at end of life. They tend to feature between 50 and 90 transponders, most often in the

Ku-band The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally german: Kurz-unten), because it is the lower part of the ori ...

and C-band. There have been 52 satellites built around the E3000 platform including ANASIS 2,

Hispasat Hispasat is the operating company for a number of Spanish communications satellites that cover the Americas, Europe and North Africa from orbital positions 30.0° West and 61.0° West. It was formed in 1989 and its activities include provision ...

Amazonas 1 Amazonas 1 or Hispasat 55W-1 was a communications satellite based on the Eurostar 3000 satellite bus and owned by satellites operator Hispasat, based in Madrid, Spain. It was launched on 5 August 2004, with a launch mass of 4,5 ton, on a Prot ...

and 2,

Arabsat-5A Arabsat-5A is a Saudi Arabian communications satellite operated by Arabsat. It will be used to provide television, internet and telephone services to Arabia, Africa and Europe. History Arabsat-5A was constructed by Astrium, and is based on the Eu ...

, -5B, and -5C,

Astra 1M Astra 1M is a geostationary communications satellite which is operated by SES. It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 19.2° East, from where it is used to provide direct to home (DTH) broadcasting to Europe, Africa, and the ...

, 1N, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3B and 5B,

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...

's W3A and

Hot Bird Hot Bird (also styled HOTBIRD) is a group of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13 °E over the equator ( orbital position) and with a transmitting footprint over Asia, Europe, North Africa, Americas and the Middle East. Only digital r ...

8–10,

Intelsat 10-02 Intelsat 10-02 (or IS 10-02, Intelsat 1002, IS-1002, Intelsat Alpha-2, Intelsat X-02 and Thor 10-02 ) is a communications satellite operated by Intelsat. Intelsat 10-02 is the first operational communications satellite to have its service life ...

, KA-SAT, Atlantic Bird 7, 70B

Telesat Telesat, formerly Telesat Canada, is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa. History Telesat began as Telesat Canada, a Canadian Crown corporation created by an Act of Parli ...

's Anik F1R, F3 and

Nimiq-4 Nimiq-4 is a Canadian geosynchronous communications satellite. It was launched aboard a Proton-M / Briz-M launch vehicle at 21:48:00 UTC on 19 September 2008. It was positioned at 82.0° West longitude, and operated by Telesat Canada. Spa ...

Skynet 5A Skynet 5A is the first in a series of new-generation Skynet military communications satellites, used by the British Ministry of Defence. It was launched aboard an Ariane 5 carrier rocket at 22:03 GMT on 11 March 2007. Launch Skynet 5A was one ...

–C and the Inmarsat 4-series of satellites. Each of the three Inmarsat 4 in service has a large deployable reflector as the main antenna. In March 2015, Airbus Defence and Space received a delivery of new 3D-printed brackets for mounting telemetry and tele-command antennas, being the first space-qualified 3D-printed component of its kind.

Eurostar E3000EOR

Also in March 2015, Airbus signed a contract with

Snecma Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It ...

for 5-kilowatt PPS5000

Hall-effect thruster In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall-effect thrusters (based on the discovery by Edwin Hall) are sometimes referred to as Hall thruster ...

s for the E3000 Electric Orbit Raising (E3000EOR) variant of the satellite bus. New thrusters would allow reducing the weight of a satellite by up to 40%., as

Türksat 5A Türksat 5A, is a Turkish communications satellite, operated by Türksat A.Ş. for commercial and military purposes. History According to an agreement signed in September 2011, the satellite was developed by specialists in cooperation with ...

and

Türksat 5B Türksat 5B is a Turkish geostationary high-throughput (HTS) communications satellite of Türksat A.Ş. developed for military and commercial purposes, and was launched on 19 December 2021, at 03:58:39 UTC. Development The Türksat 5B pro ...

Eurostar Neo

An improved model based on the E3000 called the

Eurostar Neo Eurostar is a satellite bus made by Airbus Defence and Space (formerly Astrium, and before 1994, British Aerospace, and Matra Marconi Space (the former Marconi Space having been merged with Matra's former "Matra Espace" division) which has been use ...

was announced in 2017, offering electric, hybrid, or chemical propulsion, in addition to a scalable power range of 7 kW to 25 kW.

References

External links

Airbus's page about the satellite
Satellite buses {{Spacecraft-stub