Elodie Viau, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA, said: “The launch of the first Eurostar Neo satellite demonstrates how ESA helps to boost European space companies and keep them competitive in the global marketplace, support their investments and help them to answer market needs. We are proud to work with our partner Airbus and with Eutelsat to federate industry around large-scale programmmes and achieve competitive leaps forward.”

François Gaullier, Head of Telecommunications Satellites at Airbus, said: “It’s a huge new payload-centric product that is more competitive than anything we have previously done and Eutelsat Hotbird 13F is the first one to be launched. It is also a very big partnership venture with ESA, the French Space Agency (CNES) and the UK Space Agency. We would not have developed this product without their support, which sustains the overall European space industry. The investments made in this product line have created some 2200 long-term jobs as this satellite is the first of eight that have been ordered already.”

Pascal Homsy, Eutelsat Chief Technical Officer, said: “Our congratulations to the ESA, Eutelsat, Airbus and SpaceX teams for successfully launching our Eutelsat Hotbird 13F satellite into geostationary orbit. This satellite brings the latest technology resources of the new ESA-supported Eurostar Neo platform at our leading 13-degree East position and confirms a long-term partnership between Airbus and Eutelsat.”

Jean-Pierre Diris, Deputy Director of Telecommunication and Navigation at CNES, said: “Our long-term support for this project shows the confidence that we have in the European space industry, including satellite builders and operators such as Airbus and Eutelsat.”

Harshbir Sangha, Director of Growth at the UK Space Agency, said: “The UK is a world leader in developing satellite technology and our support for the Eurostar Neo programme has strengthened the electrical propulsion supply chain in the UK, delivering growth to the space sector and unleashing innovation.

“As one of the leading investors in this programme, we have catalysed investment into the UK, supporting hundreds of jobs at Airbus, which has received orders for more satellites from customers around the world.”