On 18 June, the launch provider Sea Launch and the satellite operator Eutelsat announced an agreement fo ar Sea Launch operated Zenit 3-SL to launch the EUTELSAT 3B spacecraft from the ocean-based Odyssey launch platform in April 2014.
Currently under construction by Astrium, an EADS company, EUTELSAT 3B is based upon the Eurostar-3000 platform. Operating in C, Ku and Ka-bands, the satellite has been designed to serve video, data, Internet and telecom customers across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of South America. It will operate from Eutelsat’s orbital slot located at 3 degrees East longitude in geostationary Earth orbit and have a separated launch mass of more than six metric tonnes. The financial terms of hte contract were not released.