The 3250 kg (7150 lbm) satellite was built by Astrium,Toulouse. The spacecraft is based on the Eurostar 2000+. The dimensions of the stowed 3-axis stabilized satellite is 2.5 x 3.4 x 5 m. The satellite has a design life of 12 years, with 7 kW of power. The 28 Ku-band transponders, includes both a Widebeam and a Steerable Spotbeam. The Widebeam can be connected to up to 20 of the transponders, while the Steerable Spotbeam can use 12 of the transponders. The Widebeam can cover a footprint, or coverage area, that stretches over Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic islands, Central Asia, and the Middle East. The Steerable Spotbeam will help Eutelsat expand into new geographical regions, such as southern regions of the African continent.

This satellite is a replacement for an earlier satellite, also designated W1, which was destroyed during a fire at an Aerospatiale factory where it was under construction in May 1998. The water suppression system used to extinguish a fire sparked inside a satellite test chamber during an antenna check damaged the satellite. Aerospatiale was originally supposed to build all four spacecraft in the W-series, but after the W1 satellite was damaged in the factory fire, Eutelsat elected to order the replacement from Matra Marconi Space, which later merged with the aerospace divisions of Daimler Chrysler to form Astrium.