 |
| Photo Airbus |
First Airbus Eurostar Neo satellite successfully launched just hours before its twin arrived at KSC
Second Eutelsat telecommunications satellite to join its twin in orbit within a month
BelugaST fuelled with 30% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for Toulouse departure
A special aircraft landed at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida this weekend: the Airbus BelugaST (A300-600ST). It delivered the Airbus-built HOTBIRD 13G satellite for Eutelsat. This happened a few hours after its twin, HOTBIRD 13F, was successfully launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
 |
| Photo Airbus |
The spacecraft are the first members of the new “Eurostar Neo” family of Airbus telecommunications satellites, based on a next-generation platform and technologies developed with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), and others, including the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA).
This milestone also marks the first time since 2009 that the Beluga has visited the USA – when it transported the International Space Station European module “Tranquility”. For this latest mission, the Beluga used 30 % Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for its departure flight from Toulouse – reflecting Airbus’ decarbonisation ambitions.
