ARIANE 5 LAUNCH PROVES RELIABILITY AND FLIES NEW FAIRING

An Ariane 5 carrying two telecom satellites inside a new lighter fairing lifted off on the fourth mission from Europe’s Spaceport in two months.

Liftoff came at 21:15 GMT (18:15 local time, 23:15 CEST) last night from Kourou, French Guiana on a mission lasting about 39 minutes to deliver Hellas Sat 3–Inmarsat S EAN and GSAT-17 into their planned orbits.

Hellas Sat 3–Inmarsat S European Aviation Network, with a mass of 5792 kg, was the first to be released after about 28 minutes. The 3477 kg GSAT-17 was released 13 minutes later.

Hellas Sat 3–Inmarsat S EAN, will provide direct-to-home and telecom services to Europe, the Near East and sub-Saharan African countries, and inflight broadband within Europe. The Indian Space Research Organization’s GSAT-17 will provide communications services, data relay, and search and rescue services.

Both satellites have a design life of more than 15 years.

The payload mass for this launch was 10 177 kg. The satellites totalled about 9269 kg, with payload adapters and carrying structures making up the rest.

Four launches in two months is a peak achievement. In May and June there was one Soyuz, and three Ariane 5 launches.

During this two month period, teams worked tirelessly to prepare launch vehicles and payloads for launch.

“Maintaining the launch schedule and continuing planned maintenance at this exceptional pace was possible thanks to the dedication of all stakeholders,” commented Didier Faivre, Director of the Guiana Space Centre.

Flight VA238 was the 94th Ariane 5 mission.