page_title: Eutelsat
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Eutelsat / History
caption_attribution_description: English: dark green - members
context_page_description: Eutelsat S.A. is a European satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues.
  Eutelsat's satellites are used for broadcasting nearly 7,000 television stations, of which 1,400 are in HD, and 1,100 radio stations to over 274 million cable and satellite homes. They also serve requirements for TV contribution services, corporate networks, mobile communications, Internet backbone connectivity and broadband access for terrestrial, maritime and in-flight applications. EUTELSAT is headquartered in Paris. Eutelsat Communications Chief Executive Officer is currently Rodolphe Belmer.
  In October 2017, EUTELSAT acquired NOORSAT, one of the leading satellite service providers in the Middle East, from Bahrain's Orbit Holding Group. NOORSAT is the premier distributor of Eutelsat capacity in the Middle East, serving blue-chip customers and providing services for over 300 TV channels almost exclusively from Eutelsat's market-leading the Middle East and North Africa neighbourhoods at 7/8° West and 25.5° East.
context_section_description: The European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (EUTELSAT) was originally set up in (1977), by 17 European countries as an intergovernmental organisation (IGO). Its role was to develop and operate a satellite-based telecommunications infrastructure for Europe. The Convention establishing the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization EUTELSAT was opened for signature in July 1982 and entered into force on 1 September 1985.
  In 1982, EUTELSAT decided to start operations of its first TV channel (Sky Channel or Sky One) on the Orbital Test Satellite (OTS) in cooperation with ESA (the European Space Agency). This was the first satellite-based direct-to-home TV channel launched in Europe. In 1983, EUTELSAT launched its first satellite to be used for telecommunications and TV distribution
  Initially established to address satellite telecommunications demand in Western Europe, EUTELSAT rapidly developed its infrastructure to expand coverage to additional services (i.e. TV) and markets, such as Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, and the Middle East, the African continent, and large parts of Asia and the Americas from the 1990s.
  EUTELSAT was the first satellite operator in Europe to broadcast television channels direct-to-home. It developed its premium neighbourhood of five Hot Bird satellites in the mid-1990s to offer capacity that would be able to attract hundreds of channels to the same orbital location, appealing to wider audiences for consumer satellite TV.
  With the general liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in Europe, EUTELSAT's assets, liabilities and operational activities were transferred to a private company called Eutelsat S.A. established for this purpose in July 2001. The structure role and activities of the new intergovernmental organisation EUTELSAT IGO evolved. To this day, the main purpose of EUTELSAT IGO has been to ensure that Eutelsat S.A. observes the Basic Principles set forth in the EUTELSAT Amended Convention entered into force in November 2002. These Basic Principles refer to public service/universal service obligations, pan European coverage by the satellite system, non-discrimination and fair competition. The Executive Secretary of EUTELSAT IGO participates in all meetings of the Board of Directors of Eutelsat Communications S.A. and Eutelsat S.A. as an observer to the Board (censeur).
  In April 2005, the principal shareholders of Eutelsat S.A. grouped their investment in a new entity (Eutelsat Communications), which is now the holding company of the Group owning 95.2% of Eutelsat S.A. on October 6, 2005. Currently it owns 96.0% of Eutelsat S.A.
  On 31 July 2013, Eutelsat Communications announced the 100% acquisition of Satélites Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V. ("Satmex") for $831 million in cash plus the assumption of $311 million in Satmex debt, pending government and regulatory approvals. The transaction was finalized on 2 January 2014. Based in Mexico, Satmex operates three satellites at contiguous positions, 113° West (Satmex 6), 114,9° West (Satmex 5) and 116,8° West (Satmex 8) that cover 90% of the population of the Americas.
  In December 2015, the company announced a partnership with Facebook to launch an internet satellite over Africa by 2016 where Facebook lease all of a satellite's high throughput Ka-band capacity, however, the satellite was destroyed during launch preparations.
caption: European Telecommunications Satellite Organization membership
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