SUMMARY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE W SATELLITES

The satellite will support four different service areas:
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The W Satellites
• European Service Area A which is used for both uplink and downlink. Typical expected coverage
performances for the uplink and downlink are shown in Figures 17 and 18,
• European Service Area B which is only used for the downlink. A typical expected coverage performance is
shown in Figure 19,
• European Service Area C which is used for uplink at 18 GHz and for both uplink and downlink at Ka-band.
Typical expected coverage performances for the three bands are shown in Figures 20, 21 and 22 and,
• African Service Area which is used for both uplink and downlink. Typical expected coverage performance
is shown in Figure 23.
The frequency plan shows channels with a usable bandwidth of 36 MHz, 54 MHz, 72 MHz and 108 MHz.
The channels are organised in eight groups, designated A, B, C, D, F, G, H and J, as shown in Figure 16. The
bands covered by these channel groups are given below.
The channels have the following connectivity:
• Channels in Group A are connected to the European Service Area C on uplink and European Service Area
B on downlink.
• Channels in Groups B, C and F are connected to the European Service Area A on both uplink and
downlink.
• Channels in Group D are connected to the European Service Area A on the uplink and on the downlink, to
either the European Service Area A or the European Service Area B on a channel-by-channel basis.
• Channels in Group G are connected to the African Service Area on both uplink and downlink.
• Channels in Group H are connected to the European Service Area C on the uplink and to the African
Service Area on the downlink.
• Channels in Group J are connected to the African Service Area on the uplink and to the European Service
Area C on the downlink.
The W3A satellite will embark four active Skyplex units identical to three embarked on HOT BIRD 6, thus
including Turbo decoding and catering for 18 carriers at 2 Mbit/s for each unit. These units can be used in
conjunction with channels, A9, A10, A11, A12 and, B5 or G3. It should be noted that B5 and G3 are 72 MHz
channels and therefore can cater for two Skyplex multiplexes each.