Hotbird 13F [Eutelsat]
Official name HOTBIRD 13F
Alternative name Eutelsat Hotbird 13F
Cospar ID 2022-134A
Norad ID 54048
Launch date 2022-10-15
Launch site AFETR
Launch vehicle Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5)
Country/Organization International
Type application Communication (Direct Broadcasting)
Operator Eutelsat
RCS size LARGE
Decay date ON ORBIT
Period (min) 1436.12
Inclination (deg) 0.06
Perigee (km) 35779
Apogee (km) 35795
Eccentricity 0.000223544862659625
Mean motion (revs. per day) 1.00270172408991
Semi-Major axis (km) 42165.135
Raan (deg) 289.1145
Arg of perigee (deg) 80.1113
Shape Box + 2 Pan
Mass (kg) 4476
Height (m) 7
Width (m) 3
Depth (m) 3
Span (m^2) 40
Lifetime 15 years
Contractors Airbus Defence and Space
Equipment 80 active Ku-band transponders (#F,G), hosted L-band EGNOS GEO-4 (#G)
Propulsion ?
Configuration Eurostar-Neo
Power 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries

Hotbird 13F and 13G are two high power direct to home communications satellites to replace Hotbird 8, 9 and 10 at Eutelsats's 13° East position.

Hotbird 13F and 13G were ordered in August 2018 from Airbus Defence and Space to be built based on the new Eurostar-Neo bus with a launch mass of 4.5 tons and an electric power of 22 kW. They have all electric propulsion, allowing an increase in payload, so that two new satellites provide the same amount of Ku-band capacity as the current trio of Hotbird satellites, with increased resistance to signal jamming.

Launches were are planned for 2021 and 2022 respectively on Ariane-6, with both set to enter service in 2022. Eventually they were re-booked on SpaceX Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) launches, which took place in October and November 2022.

Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
HOTBIRD 13F 2022-134A 2022-10-15 AFETR Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5)