Ariane 5’s fifth launch this year
Ariane 5 has delivered two telecom satellites, Intelsat-37e and BSAT-4a, into their planned orbits.
Arianespace announced the liftoff at 21:56 GMT (23:56 CEST, 18:56 local time) yesterday from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The mission lasted about 47 minutes.
Intelsat-37e, with a launch mass of 6438 kg, was the first to be released after about 29 minutes. The 3520 kg BSAT-4a was released 18 minutes later.
Intelsat-37e, owned and operated by Intelsat, offers a new generation of fixed and mobile communications for the Americas, Africa and Europe. The satellite has a design life of more than 15 years.
BSAT-4a, operated by Japan’s Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation, will provide direct-to-home television services to Japan in high and ultra-high definition. The satellite has a design life of more than 15 years.
The performance requested for this launch was about 10 838 kg. The satellites totalled about 9958 kg, with payload adapters and carrying structures making up the rest.
This mission follows its previous launch attempt that was halted just before liftoff on 5 September. After solving the anomaly and completing related checks, Arianespace resumed operations for today’s launch.
Flight VA239 was the 95th Ariane 5 mission.
