SpaceX Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F Launch

SpaceX plans to launch the HOTBIRD 13F communications satellite for Eutelsat on 2022-10-15 at 03:26 UTC, which will be in the evening of the 14th in western hemisphere time zones. This will be the third flight of Falcon 9 booster B1069 with a turn-around time of 48 days since its last flight. The launch will be from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida. Weather is currently forecast as 90% favourable for launch.

The satellite will be injected into a geostationary transfer orbit for eventual service at the Eutelsat East slot providing service to Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. It is the first of two satellites intended to replace HOTBIRDs 8, 9, and 10, which are being retired after 14 years of service.

Here is a pre-launch preview from Everyday Astronaut.

2 Likes

After almost two hours of launch delays “to allow additional time for data review”, the launch occurred at 05:22 UTC. The launch, booster landing, and delivery of the payload to its intended orbit were all successful. I have cued the replay to start one minute before liftoff. Deployment of the payload occurs at the 51:00 mark in the video.

2 Likes