a Beluga carries a satellite from Toulouse to Florida
Above our heads in Toulouse, we are used to seeing Airbus Belugas flying. But it’s not every day that one of these humpback cargo planes carries a satellite. Son name: HOTBIRD 13G integrated by Airbus for the satellite operator Eutelsat. This weekend, he landed in the United States, in Florida. An event for the company.
It made ten years that Airbus had not transported a load for thespace industrya feat for Carole Martin, in charge of the ATI Airbus Transport International team, she supervises external flights: “These are really very specific, carrier-sensitive loads. You have to have temperature management systems in particular. The convoy was quite exceptional and the team is particularly proud.”
It is also the first time since 2009 that a Beluga has visited the United States. The satellite it carried will be launched into orbit within a month, with its twin, also integrated by Airbus: HOTBIRD 13F. Together, they will allow replace three satellites and broadcast 1,000 television channels in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. They also improve the connection of more than 135 million people.
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Good news for Airbus, which is once again establishing itself in the space industry. “This is an important step for Airbus Defense and Space, which was concerned to see the reduction in transport capacity to satellite launch bases, in particular California.explains Benoît Lemonnier, director of Airbus Beluga transport. With this first Beluga flight for more than ten years, a possibility is opening up and that secures future satellite deliveries.”