The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
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On the evening of 29th October 2009, an Ariane 5 ECA launcher lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on a journey to place two telecommunications satellites, NSS-12 and Thor 6, into geostationary transfer orbits. Flight V192 was the sixth Ariane 5 launch of 2009 and the fourth dual-payload mission.
Liftoff of the 48th Ariane 5 mission took place at the start of the launch window: 21:00 CET (20:00 UT; 17:00 French Guiana). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 250 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 786 km and an inclination of 6º. The satellites were accurately injected into their transfer orbits about 27 and 31 minutes after liftoff, respectively.