EUTELSAT 117 WEST A

Eutelsat 117 West A is a geostationary communications satellite currently operated by Eutelsat Americas, providing telecommunications services across the Americas. Catalogued by the United States Space Command under NORAD ID 39122 and international designator 2013-012A, the spacecraft was launched in March 2013 and has remained in continuous orbital service since, spanning a corporate transition that saw it move from one operator to another while retaining its fundamental mission of connecting communities across the Western Hemisphere.

Mission and Purpose

The satellite's primary purpose is to deliver a broad range of telecommunications services to customers throughout North, Central, and South America. These services encompass broadband internet connectivity, voice and data transmission, and video broadcasting — functions that collectively place it among the multipurpose commercial communications satellites that have become essential infrastructure for the region. Its coverage footprint is particularly well suited to serving both densely populated urban centers and more remote areas of the Americas where terrestrial infrastructure may be limited or absent.

Originally conceived and operated under the name Satmex 8 by the Mexican satellite operator Satmex, the spacecraft was intended to modernize and extend the capabilities of that company's fleet. Specifically, it was designed to succeed Satmex 5, an earlier satellite that had long served as a communications workhorse for the region. By replacing an aging asset with a newer, higher-capacity platform, the mission aimed to meet growing demand for satellite-delivered services across the continent. When Eutelsat acquired Satmex in 2014, the satellite was incorporated into the larger French operator's global network and renamed Eutelsat 117 West A, reflecting its orbital position and its new place within the Eutelsat fleet. Formal adoption of the new name occurred in May 2014. The operator of record is now listed as Eutelsat Americas, the company's regional operating entity.

The satellite's mission type is not publicly detailed in available catalog records, and its current operational status is likewise not formally published through open tracking databases. However, given its continued presence in geostationary orbit and the operational history of Eutelsat's fleet, it is widely understood to remain a functioning commercial asset.

Orbit and Tracking

Eutelsat 117 West A occupies a geostationary orbit, meaning it travels in a circular path above the Earth's equator at an altitude that causes it to orbit at the same angular rate as the Earth rotates. The practical consequence is that the satellite appears stationary when viewed from the ground, a characteristic that makes geostationary slots extremely valuable for telecommunications applications — fixed dish antennas can be pointed at the satellite without any need for active tracking or repositioning.

The satellite's confirmed orbital parameters reflect a nearly perfect geostationary profile. Its apogee stands at 35,808 km and its perigee at 35,783 km, indicating a very low eccentricity orbit that departs only slightly from a perfect circle. The inclination is recorded at 0.0°, confirming that the orbital plane aligns essentially exactly with the equatorial plane. Its orbital period is 1,436.2 minutes — very close to the 1,436-minute sidereal day that defines the geostationary condition. Together, these parameters confirm that the spacecraft is precisely positioned to hold its station above a fixed longitude, providing a reliable and predictable link between ground terminals and the satellite.

The satellite is tracked continuously by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, which maintains its catalog entry under NORAD ID 39122. As a geostationary object, it remains in orbit indefinitely under current projections, with no decay or reentry date anticipated. Like all geostationary satellites, it does not trace a visible path across the sky from a ground observer's perspective; instead, it remains fixed relative to the horizon when observed from within its coverage footprint.

Design and Operator

Eutelsat 117 West A was manufactured by Lanteris Space Systems and has a recorded mass of 5,474 kg, placing it firmly in the class of large commercial geostationary satellites. Satellites in this mass range typically carry substantial fuel reserves for stationkeeping throughout their operational lifetimes, as well as powerful transponder payloads capable of serving large numbers of simultaneous users.

The spacecraft was lofted into orbit on March 25, 2013, aboard a Proton-M launch vehicle equipped with a Briz-M upper stage — a rocket and upper-stage combination with a well-established record of delivering heavy commercial satellites to geostationary transfer orbit. The Proton-M/Briz-M configuration was a common workhorse for commercial satellite launches during this period and was capable of placing payloads of this class into the high-energy trajectories needed to reach geostationary orbit.

The current operator, Eutelsat Americas, is the regional subsidiary of Eutelsat, a major European satellite operator with a broad international footprint. The transition from Satmex to Eutelsat ownership took place in 2014, when the two companies merged, consolidating what had been a Mexican national satellite operator into a larger multinational fleet. For catalog and tracking purposes, the owner country is listed as Eutelsat, reflecting the parent company's European identity while the operational responsibility rests with the Americas-focused regional entity.

Legacy and Significance

The history of Eutelsat 117 West A illustrates the broader evolution of the Latin American satellite telecommunications sector over the past several decades. Satmex, originally Telecomunicaciones de México, was among the pioneering operators of commercial satellite services in the region, and the Satmex 8 program represented a late-career investment in next-generation capacity at a time when demand for broadband and video services was accelerating throughout the Americas. The decision to build and launch a replacement for Satmex 5 reflected both the aging of legacy infrastructure and a desire to capture a larger share of a growing market.

When Eutelsat absorbed Satmex in 2014, it gained not only a physical satellite asset but also established orbital positions, customer relationships, and regional expertise. The 117° West longitude slot that the satellite occupies is a commercially significant geostationary position with good coverage of both North and South America, and securing that slot as part of a fleet expansion was strategically meaningful for Eutelsat's ambitions in the Western Hemisphere. The renaming of the satellite in May 2014 formalized its integration into the Eutelsat brand, though operationally the services it provides continued largely uninterrupted through the transition.

From a broader perspective, the satellite also represents the kind of commercial geostationary infrastructure that underpins connectivity for millions of users who may have little direct awareness of the orbital platforms enabling their communications. Video broadcasting, broadband access, and data relay services at this scale require assets of significant mass, power, and technical sophistication — and satellites like Eutelsat 117 West A quietly fulfill that role year after year from their fixed positions more than 35,000 km above the equator.

With a perigee and apogee separated by only 25 km, and an inclination of essentially zero degrees, the satellite's orbit is exceptionally well maintained, consistent with active stationkeeping operations by the ground segment. Geostationary satellites are typically operated until their onboard fuel supply for stationkeeping is exhausted, at which point they are maneuvered to a "graveyard" or supersynchronous disposal orbit to clear the valuable geostationary belt for future operators. No such end-of-life transition has been recorded for this spacecraft in publicly available tracking data, and it remains listed as still in orbit.

For researchers, engineers, and satellite-tracking enthusiasts, Eutelsat 117 West A serves as a useful reference point among the dozens of active commercial payloads crowding the geostationary arc above the Americas. Its long operational history, corporate provenance, and well-documented orbital parameters make it a notable entry in any systematic survey of Western Hemisphere telecommunications infrastructure. As the industry continues to evolve — with new high-throughput and low-orbit constellations entering service — older geostationary workhorses like this one remain an important part of the layered architecture of global satellite communications.