Eutelsat Quantum, the world's first fully reprogrammable commercial satellite, has made it. It took off from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on Friday evening (11.00 pm Swiss), and is now in orbit, ushering in a new era of more flexible communications. The mission, which lasted about 37 minutes, also planned to bring the Star One D2 satellite of Embratel, a Brazilian telecommunications company, into space.
The flexibility of the technology developed by the French operator Eutelsat will allow for example to provide mobile coverage for aircraft, ships or government services in the event of natural disasters or one-off events. "It is the first commercial software-driven satellite with the ability to change the frequency, power, direction and shape of the beams being transmitted to Earth," explained Simon Weinberg, Quantum Project Manager, ESA. The satellite will be functional for 15 years.
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