Eutelsat 12 West B

Names	Atlantic Bird 2 (2001–2012) Eutelsat 8 West A (2012–2015)
Mission type	Communications
Operator	Eutelsat
COSPAR ID	2001-042A
SATCAT no.	26927
Website	www.eutelsat.com/en/home.html
Mission duration	12 years (planned) 19 years (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Atlantic Bird 2
Spacecraft type	Spacebus
Bus	Spacebus-3000B2
Manufacturer	Alcatel Space
Launch mass	3,150 kg (6,940 lb)
Dry mass	1,368 kg (3,016 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	21 September 2001, 23:21 UTC
Rocket	Ariane 44P H10-3 (V144)
Launch site	Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELA-2
Contractor	Arianespace
Entered service	November 2001
End of mission
Disposal	Graveyard orbit
Deactivated	October 2020
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Geostationary orbit
Longitude	8° West (2001–2015) 12.5° West (2015–2020)
Transponders
Band	26 Ku-band
Coverage area	Americas, Europe
Eutelsat constellation

Eutelsat 12 West B, known as Atlantic Bird 2 prior to 2012 and Eutelsat 8 West A from 2012 to 2015, was a geostationary communications satellite. Operated by Eutelsat, it provides direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting services from geostationary orbit. The satellite is part of Eutelsat constellation at a longitude of 8° West, then 12.5° West. Eutelsat announced the order of a new Spacebus-3000B2 satellite bus from Alcatel Space in October 2012.

Satellite description

Atlantic Bird 2 was a 3,150 kg (6,940 lb) satellite with a design life of 12 years. It is equipped with an S400-12 apogee motor which was used for initial orbit-raising manoeuvres and an S10-18 engine for station keeping burns.^[1] The spacecraft has 26 Ku-band transponders.^[2]

Launch

Atlantic Bird 2 was launched on the Ariane 44P launch vehicles from Centre Spatial Guyanais at the Kourou in French Guiana. Liftoff occurred at 23:21 UTC on 21 September 2001,^[3] with the launch vehicle successfully injecting its payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). The launch was conducted by Arianespace.

Mission

Following launch, the satellite Atlantic Bird 2 used its apogee motor to raise itself into geostationary orbit, positioning itself at a longitude of 8° West. In December 2011, Eutelsat announced, that their satellite assets will be renamed under a unified brand name effective from March 2012. This satellite became Eutelsat 8 West A at 8° West. In 2015, it was moved to 12.5° West and named Eutelsat 12 West B. It has been moved to a graveyard orbit in October 2020.^[2]