- Astrium E3000
The Astrium E3000 is a model of
communication satellite manufactured byEADS Astrium ; it is a member of Astrium's Eurostar family. It uses chemical station-keeping thrusters, and was the first commercial satellite family to use lithium-ion batteries, rather than nickel-based technologies, for power supply during eclipses.As always, the basic E3000 bus can be modified extensively to meet customer requirements, but E3000 satellites all have a launch mass of around 4500 kilograms, and 35-metre solar arrays providing between nine and ten kilowatts at end of life. They tend to feature around fifty transponders, of which around 32 are
Ku-band and the remainderC-band .Satellites built around the E3000 platform include Hispasat's Amazonas,
Telesat 'sAnik F1R andAnik F3 ,Eutelsat 's W3A, and theInmarsat 4 series of satellites; Inmarsat 4 uses 45-metre solar arrays providing 14 kilowatts, and has a large deployable reflector as main antenna.References
[http://www.astrium.eads.net/families/daily-life-benefits/communications/eurostar-series] Astrium's page about the satellite.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.