Atlantic Bird 1 → Eutelsat 12 West A → Eutelsat 36 West A → Eutelsat 59A

Atlantic Bird 1 [Arianespace]

With twenty channels, the Atlantic Bird 1 satellite was primarily designed to provide telecommunications services between Europe and the Americas. Its American coverage comprises North and South American zones. Its European coverage encompasses Europe, North Africa and the near Middle East. Offering high flexibility, the satellite supports telecommunications networks spanning the two continents, providing a virtual common coverage and channel space.

Atlantic Bird 1 was launched in 2002 on an Ariane-5G rocket and was stationed at the 12° West position over the Atlantic.

In December 2011 Eutelsat announced, that their satellite assets will be renamed under a unified brand name effective from March 2012. This satellite became Eutelsat 12 West A. In 2016 it was moved to the 36° West position and renamed Eutelsat 36 West A. In 2018 it was again repositioned to 59° East and received the new name Eutelsat 59A.

It has been retired and moved to a graveyard orbit above GEO in October 2018.