Comparison of the Eutelsat
1 F series satellites.

(Updated for extra information 7 / 12 / 2002)

These satellites were the earliest Eutelsat birds. They have all been decommissioned now.

The main satellite comparison index

Notes

1    destroyed during launch due to ignition failure of 3rd stage of Ariane V15. The mishap also destroyed Spacenet 3.

2    decommision date also given as 8 /2000 on some web sites.

3    At the beginning of September 2002, Eutelsat 1F4 was reported as being in a 6.8º inclined orbit at 33ºE. 1F4 was nominally still in use, although it had been out of service for at least a couple of years. It was actually only keeping the 33ºE orbital slot occupied. 1F4 was finally retired from service at the beginning of December 2002 when it was sent up to the junk orbit.

The Junk orbits.

ECS-1 was boosted up to 398km above geostationary, with a 5 degree /day drift rate.

ECS-4 was moved to 414 km above geostatonary orbit, final commands uplinked to the satellite at 17.22GMT 1st Dec 2002.

ECS-5 was planned to go to 150km above geostationary orbit.

Impression of Eutelsat 1F1 in service.

Thanks to Stephen McGarry for the additional technical information below:

All of the satellites except Eutelsat I-F1 have two transponders in the 12.5-12.75 GHz range (for reference: 12.541667 GHz, H and V polarities, SMS beam).

Eutelsat I-F1 only had eclipse protection for 6 transponders - must have caused a bit of hassle at the time!

I seriously doubt that there will ever be any more transmissions from Eutelsat I-F4. With an inclination of 6.95 degrees I'd assume it's just being used to hold the 33E slot for another satellite. I'd say Intelsat 511 is the same (29.5W, inclined at 7.1 degrees).


There have been a lot of conflicting reports about the decommission dates, but I found these from the ESA website so I'd assume they're accurate:

Eutelsat I-F1: December 16th 1996
Eutelsat I-F2: Late November 1993
Eutelsat I-F3: September 13th 1985 (destroyed)
Eutelsat I-F4: still in service at 33E
Eutelsat I-F5: May 23rd 2000

I also found this interesting info in the ESA's press releases:

"ECS-1 has been switched off and is now in a graveyard-orbit, 398 km higher than the geostationary orbit, drift rate is 5 deg/day"

"Following almost 12 years of successful operation, Eutelsat, the satellite's owner, has decided to retire ECS-5. The spacecraft is expected to be decommissioned and placed in its "graveyard" orbit of at least 150 km above geostationary altitude by the end of May 2000, thus ensuring that no debris remains in this valuable orbit."


And one final thing, I'd assume you know that Sky Channel moved to Eutelsat I-F1 in January 1984. But I have the actual frequency for it. I found it in an old startup video clip (exact words below):

"From Satellite Television in London, transmitting on the ECS-F1 satellite transponder 6X at a frequency of 11.650 GHz, this is Sky Channel."

What they didn't say is that transponder 6 was horizontal polarity though.

This is how the end of 1F4 was reported on one of the space websites on 5th December 2002:

An era ends as ECS-4 reaches graveyard orbit

05 Dec 2002 - One of the first European Communications Satellites (ECS) to cover the whole European continent was put into retirement after 15 years of dedicated service. ECS-4/Eutelsat I-F4, launched in September 1987 by an Ariane 3, has far outlived its projected life span of seven to nine years though many of its nine transponders had already failed. It was the last of its series.

More details about the ECS birds:

Demise of ECS-4 December 2002

Demise of ECS-5 May 2000

ECS 3 at Kourou

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