ESA Arianespace: Satellite launch Kit for UK MOD and Mexico

Arianespace’s seventh and final Ariane 5 launch of 2012 has received its “green light” for liftoff with today’s successful launch readiness review performed at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

The review is held prior to each Ariane 5 mission, ensuring that the heavy-lift launch vehicle and its payload are flight-ready, along with the Spaceport’s infrastructure and the network of downrange tracking stations.

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This approval clears the way for Ariane 5’s rollout tomorrow from the Final Assembly Building to Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 at the Spaceport – positioning it for liftoff on Wednesday, December 19 during a launch window that opens at 6:49 p.m. and continues to 8:08 p.m., local time in French Guiana.

This flight will orbit a dual-passenger payload of the Mexsat Bicentenario telecommunications satellite for the Mexican Secretariat of Communications and Transport, along with the Skynet 5D secure military communications relay platform for the European operator Astrium Services, on behalf of the British Ministry of Defence.

Skynet 5D was built by Astrium Satellites of Stevenage, England, and will be the 38th military payload lofted by the Ariane launcher family.

Weighing approximately 4,800 kg. at launch and based on the Eurostar E3000 platform, it has an expected lifetime of 15 years and will be the 89th Astrium satellite launched by Arianespace. The spacecraft will be operated from a geostationary orbital position of 25 deg. East following its deployment.

ATV Edoardo Amaldi: Launch Campaign Proceeding Towards March Launch

Fueling is underway for Europe's third Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) at the Spaceport in French Guiana, which will be launched by Arianespace in March aboard an Ariane 5 on an International Space Station servicing mission.

This process is being performed in the S5B hall of the Spaceport's S5 payload preparation facility, where the large cargo vessel was integrated and received its cargo.

Named after Italian physicist Edoardo Amaldi, the ATV will carry a fuel load estimated at 6,060 kg.

Of this total, approximately 2,200 kg. is for use on the spacecraft's travel to the International Space Station after launch by Ariane 5, and for the post-mission de-orbiting; some 3,000 kg. will be consumed in attitude control and re-boost maneuvers while the ATV is mated to the International Space Station; and the remaining 860 kg. is destined for transfer from the ATV to the station's Russian portion.

Liftoff of the ATV Edoardo Amaldi is scheduled for March 9 from the Spaceport, carrying some 6,960 kg. of dry cargo, water, gas and propellant for delivery to the International Space Station.

Arianespace's mission will follow Ariane 5 launches of ATVs in February 2011 and March 2008. The ATV program is managed by the European Space Agency, with production of the spacecraft performed by an Astrium-led industry consortium.

In separate activity, the cargo module for Europe's fourth ATV, named after Albert Einstein, was transferred from its production location in Turin, Italy to Bremen, Germany on December 30 for final testing.

Shipment of the full ATV - consisting of the cargo section and service module - to French Guiana is expected in the second half of this year, for a launch on Ariane 5 targeted for early 2013.

ESA Galileo IOV satellite: Launched

The Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) ProtoFlight Model (PFM) and Flight Models (FM-2, FM-3 and FM-4) undergoing assembly and testing at Thales Alenia Space’s facility in Rome during May 2011.

The launch of the first two satellites of Europe's global navigation satellite system is planned to take place on 20 October 2011.

This will be the first of a series of Galileo satellite launches by Arianespace from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

The first two Galileo IOV satellites will be deployed using a Soyuz launcher. The October launch will mark the inaugural Soyuz flight from its new launch facilities in French Guiana, built in the framework of a European Space Agency programme.

Galileo is Europe's state-of-the-art global satellite navigation system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civil control.

Its definition, development and In-Orbit Validation phases were carried out by ESA and co-funded by ESA and the European Community.

The Full Operational Capability phase of the Galileo programme is managed and fully funded by the European Commission. The Commission and ESA have signed a delegation agreement by which ESA acts as design and procurement agent on behalf of the Commission.

Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja, 2011

ESA Ariane5 Kourou Launch - Video

ESA Ariane 5 Launch carries 2 communications satellites: Astrium & Thales Alenia Space Arabsat 5C and SES 2 (Americom).   

Arianespace - VideoCorner

Ariane 5 Launch Postponed At Least 20 Days

Following the anomaly detected on Friday July 1st during the launch attempt VA203, Arianespace has decided to replace the valve of the EPC (the main cryogenic stage), which did not function nominally.

In order to carry out this operation, the Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle will be rolled back into the Final Assembly Building (BAF).

The valve's replacement and the ensuing operations should require approximately 20 days.

The ASTRA 1N and BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R satellite payloads are maintained in fully safe conditions.

A date for a new launch attempt will be announced shortly

ESA: Ariane 5 VA203 ready for launch

The next Ariane 5 launch is scheduled for 1 July. It will carry the ASTRA 1N and BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R satellites into their planned geostationary transfer orbits. This will be the 59th launch of Ariane 5.


The Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone has welcomed another heavy-lift Ariane 5 as preparations enter the final phase for Arianespace’s dual-passenger mission tomorrow with the ASTRA 1N and BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R satellites.

Emerging from the Final Assembly Building in the French Guiana sunshine, the Ariane 5 was transferred atop one of two operational mobile launch tables for the workhorse Arianespace vehicle.

All is ready for the countdown leading to a liftoff on July 1 during a launch window that opens at 6:43 p.m. (21h43 Universal time) on Arianespace’s fourth mission in 2011.

The two passengers for this flight are direct-to-home (DTH) television broadcasting satellites with coverage over Europe and Japan, which are to be delivered to geostationary transfer orbit by the Ariane 5.

To be deployed first during the 38-minute mission is ASTRA 1N, which was built by EADS Astrium in Toulouse, France for the Luxembourg-based operator SES Astra. 

Based on Astrium’s Eurostar E3000 platform, ASTRA 1N has an estimated liftoff mass of 5,350 kg. and is fitted with 52 active Ku-band transponders. 

It initially is to deliver interim capacity from an orbital position of 28.2 deg. East, and subsequently will move to SES ASTRA’s prime location at 19.2 deg. East for primary and backup services during a designed operational lifetime of 15 years.

BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R was manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems at its plant in Newtown, Pennsylvania as part of a turnkey contract for Japanese operators B-SAT Corporation and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation.

Produced using an A2100 A platform, this satellite will weigh approximately 2,910 kg. at launch, and is to be positioned at 110 deg.

East longitude in geostationary orbit, and offers a design life exceeding 16 years. BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R is fitted with 24 active Ku-band transponders, and is primarily designed to provide direct TV broadcast links for all of Japan.

ESA: Ariane 5’s third launch of 2011

On 20 May 2011, an Ariane 5 launcher lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, GSAT-8 and ST-2, into their planned transfer orbits. Flight VA202 was the third Ariane 5 launch of 2011.

Liftoff of the 58th Ariane 5 mission came at 22:38 CEST (20:38 GMT; 17:38 French Guiana).

Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Photo Optique vidéo du CSG - S. Martin

Soyuz is in the launch zone at Kourou, ESA's Spaceport

The latest addition to Arianespace's launcher family made its world debut at the vehicle's new base of operations, as the first Soyuz was rolled out to the Spaceport's launch pad in French Guiana.

This historic event began in the morning hours, when the Russian-built medium-lift workhorse vehicle emerged from its MIK integration facility in the Spaceport's northwest zone for a 600-meter transfer to the launch zone.

It marked the start of a "dry run" validation of procedures that will replicate all aspects of a Soyuz mission's typical multi-day final preparation phase at the Spaceport - except for the vehicle's actual fueling.

For this dry run, the process will continue to the final countdown on May 4, when it will be purposely stopped - allowing procedures to be confirmed in the scenario of a launch-day interruption. The final countdown will be resumed on May 5, with a simulated liftoff and downrange mission trajectory.

The vehicle involved in this exercise is a flight-worthy launcher that will be used for a future mission after Soyuz enters service beginning later this year. It is one of two launchers that have been delivered from Russia to French Guiana.

Based on the processing flow established for Soyuz missions at the Spaceport, the three-stage launcher had been horizontally integrated in the MIK facility and was rolled out to the launch zone on a transporter/erector rail car.

The Soyuz vehicle - composed of its four first-stage strap-on boosters, the Block A core second stage, and the Block I third stage - was then raised into position over the massive concrete launch pad by the transporter/erector, where it was then suspended in position with the use of the launch pad's four primary support arms at mid-day.

During the afternoon hours, the 52-meter-tall mobile gantry that was developed specifically for Soyuz operations at the Spaceport moved into position around the vehicle, allowing delivery and integration of the launcher's upper composite in the evening.

This upper composite consists of a Fregat upper stage and the ST-type payload fairing. For the dry-run exercise, the upper composite did not contain an actual payload.

ESA Ariane 5: Second successful launch for 2011

An Ariane 5 launcher has lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, Yahsat Y1A and Intelsat New Dawn, into their planned transfer orbits. Flight VA201 was the second Ariane 5 launch of 2011.

Liftoff of the 57th Ariane 5 mission came at 23:37 CEST (21:37 GMT; 18:37 French Guiana) on Friday night.

The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 250 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 962 km and an inclination of 6 degrees.

The satellites were accurately injected into their transfer orbits about 27 minutes and 35 minutes after liftoff, respectively.

Yahsat Y1A will be positioned above the equator at 52.5E. It will provide innovative broadband solutions for Internet, business data and high-definition television services to institutional and commercial customers in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Southeast Asian.

Intelsat New Dawn, to be positioned over 32.8E, will offer a wide range of services to Africa, including telephony, Internet, media and data networks.

The payload mass for this launch was 10 064 kg; the satellites totalled 8965 kg, with payload adapters and dispensers making up the additional 1099 kg.

With a total mass of over 10 t, it is the heaviest payload ever launched by an Ariane 5 ECA. This was made possible by detailed post-flight analyses to fully exploit the propulsion potential of each stage. Further performance increases are in the pipeline to keep up with the trend towards heavier telecom satellites.

Arianespace and Europe's Spaceport are planning four more Ariane launches in 2011, maintaining the heavy-lift vehicle's flight rate.

ESA Ariane 5 - 'Johannes Kepler' space freighter ready for launch

Europe's unmanned space freighter is on the launch pad in French Guiana, ready to begin its voyage into orbit.

At more than 20 tonnes, the truck will be the heaviest payload an Ariane 5 rocket has ever lifted into the sky.

The robotic ship, dubbed Johannes Kepler, will be delivering food, air, fuel, experiments and other equipment to the International Space Station.

Another key task for the freighter in the coming months will be to push the station to a higher altitude.

The ISS has a tendency to lose height over time as it brushes through the residual atmosphere still present 350km above the Earth.

Johannes Kepler will dock with the rear of the platform and use its propulsive might to boost the station's orbit.

Lift-off for the freighter and its carrier Ariane from the Kourou spaceport is timed for 1913 local time (2213 GMT) on Tuesday.

The launch is doubly significant because it marks also the 200th mission of an Ariane rocket since the vehicle series was introduced in 1979.

"Kepler's mass at lift off will be 20,062kg. This is a record for the launcher and for the European Space Agency (Esa)," said Nico Dettmann, who runs the freighter programme at Esa.

"The integration and launch campaign have been very smooth, but still we have to be thorough and careful," he told BBC News.



An artist's impression of ATV2 Johannes Kepler flying over France

Kepler is due to make a docking with the orbiting platform next Wednesday.

ESA's Ariane 5 with Johannes Kepler on board is enroute to the launch pad in Kourou

In Kourou, the launch preparations of Ariane 5 v200 with ATV Johannes Kepler on board are now visible.

No more simulations, testing or preparation work inside the high-rise buildings.

Today, just like always before a launch, the launch vehicle is being rolled out and transported to the launch pad.

The 200th launch of Ariane and the second launch of an ATV (Johannes Keplar), is happening now.

Arianespace Ariane 5 launch

An Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket soars from a launch pad at the Guiana Space Center Kourou, French Guiana on Dec. 29, 2010, carrying two new communications satellites for different customers. 

It was the sixth and last Ariane 5 rocket launch of 2010, and the last rocket launch of the year. 

Credit: Arianespace

The heavy-lift launcher, making its 55th flight, climbed steeply through the late afternoon sky and headed downrange for a half-hour trek into geosynchronous transfer orbit to deliver the Spanish Hispasat 1E and South Korea's Koreasat 6 spacecraft.

Arianespace’s fifth Ariane 5 is ready to receive its Intelsat 17 and HYLAS 1 satellite payloads

The Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s fifth heavy-lift mission of 2010 has moved to the Final Assembly Building at the Spaceport in French Guiana, where it will be fitted with a dual-passenger payload of the Intelsat 17 and HYLAS 1 satellites.

The Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s November 25 mission approaches its Launcher Integration Building at the Spaceport.

This milestone marks Ariane 5’s formal delivery to Arianespace by industrial prime contractor EADS Astrium Space Transportation, which was responsible for build-up of the launch vehicle’s core cryogenic stage with its two solid boosters and the cryogenic upper stage in the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building.

The Ariane 5’s liftoff with Intelsat 17 and HYLAS 1 is set for November 25, and will be the 198th mission of an Ariane family launcher.

Once in orbit, Intelsat 17 will offer distribution in a region that extends across Asia and into Europe and Africa, operating from an orbital positioned of 66 deg. East – effectively located next to Intelsat's successful Asian video distribution neighborhood positioned at 68.5 degrees East.

The spacecraft was built by Space Systems/Loral, and carries C- and Ku-band capacity to provide multi-continental coverage. It is to replace the Intelsat 702 satellite, which was launched by Arianespace in June 1994.

HYLAS 1 will bring high-speed broadband services to remote rural areas across Europe using a highly adaptable Ku- and Ka-band payload. Designed and built by EADS Astrium for satellite broadband operator Avanti Communications, this spacecraft is designed to allocate varying amounts of power and bandwidth to the various regions within its footprint, reacting to the highs and lows of traffic demand.

Arianespace: Ariane 5 launch of W3B and BSAT-sB satellites

The heavy-lift Ariane 5 completes its rollout – approaching the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone at left, where it was locked in position for tomorrow’s liftoff with the W3B and BSAT-3b satellites.

The Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s next mission has moved to the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport, readying it for tomorrow’s liftoff with a dual payload of telecommunications satellites for Europe and Japan.

Emerging under clear French Guiana skies at 10:45 a.m. local time today, the heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA was transferred during a one-hour process from the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building to the launch zone.

Preparations now are underway for tomorrow’s final countdown, which will lead to liftoff during a launch window that opens at 6:51 p.m. local time and continues to 8:01 p.m.

Ariane 5’s payload lift performance for this mission is a total of 8,263 kg., which includes a mass of approximately 7,460 kg. for its satellite passengers, along with the associated integration hardware and the launcher’s SYLDA multi-payload dispenser system.

Riding as the upper passenger in Ariane 5’s payload “stack” is Eutelsat’s W3B, which will be released at just over 28 minutes into the flight.  This Thales Alenia Space-built telecommunications spacecraft weighs approximately 5.4 metric tons and carries 56 transponders.

To be located at an orbital position of 16 deg. East, W3B will renew and expand resources at a slot that reaches some of the most dynamic markets in the satellite business.

The 2,060-kg. BSAT-3b spacecraft – which was manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Systems for Japan’s B-SAT Corporation – will be deployed from Ariane 5’s lower passenger position at approximately 38 minutes into the flight. It is to provide direct television broadcast services from an orbital slot of 110 deg. East.

Tomorrow’s mission is designated 197, signifying the 197th launch of an Ariane family vehicle since 1979.

The October 28 mission also will be Ariane 5’s fourth flight of 2010, which follows three previous dual-payload launches: Arianespace’s August 4 flight with RASCOM-QAF 1R and NILESAT 201; the June 26 mission that orbited the Arabsat-5A and COMS spacecraft, and the May 21 launch with ASTRA 3B and COMSATBw-2.

ESA Portal - Ariane 5’s third launch of 2010 - images

On 4 August 2010, an Ariane 5 launcher lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, Nilesat-201 and Rascom-QAF1R, into geostationary transfer orbits.

Liftoff of flight V196, the 52nd Ariane 5 mission, took place at 22:59 CEST (20:59 GMT; 17:59 French Guiana).

The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 250 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 919 km and an inclination of 2º.

The satellites were accurately injected into their transfer orbits about 28 minutes and 32 minutes after liftoff, respectively.

Since the Shuttle retirement, Ariane 5 is now the only launcher that can reliably uplift and inject two satellites into orbit around the Earth. Thus, giving Europe and ESA and big competitive advantage in space transportation and uplift.

Arianespace Launches Two Satellites

Arianespace Launches Two Satellites

This latest successful launch of Ariane 5, the third in 2010, once again proves the launcher's operational capabilities.

Ariane 5 is the only commercial satellite launcher now on the market capable of simultaneously launching two payloads and handling a complete range of missions, from commercial launches into geostationary orbit to scientific satellites boosted into special orbits.

The 52nd launch of an Ariane 5, and the 38th successful mission in a row, clearly confirms the launcher's reliability and availability. Arianespace's launch Service and Solutions continue to set the global standard and guarantee independent access to space for all customers, including national and international space agencies, private firms and governments.

With this evening's mission, Arianespace has now orbited six out of eleven commercial communications satellites launched worldwide since the beginning of the year, or more than half of the total. At the same time, Arianespace has signed nine new launch contracts for geostationary satellites to be orbited by Ariane 5, and five contracts for dedicated Soyuz launches, a new record.

Arianespace Mission - Ariane 5 launch with Arabsat-5A and COMS satellites

Arianespace stepped up its 2010 launch pace with tonight’s successful dual-passenger Ariane 5 mission, which lofted payloads for the Middle East and South Korea.

Lifting off from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch facility in French Guiana, the Ariane 5 ECA placed Arabsat-5A and COMS into geostationary transfer orbits – providing a payload delivery performance of approximately 7,400 kg.

“This launch is the 37th consecutive success for our Ariane 5 launcher, and it clearly demonstrates our policy of quality — which is exactly what you — our customers expect, and I thank you for the confidence you have always shown for us,” Arianespace Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said in comments from the Spaceport’s Jupiter mission control room.

He noted that Arianespace maintains a strong backlog of satellites to be orbited, which has been further expanded with additional contracts concluded so far this year.

“Since the creation of our company 30 years ago, we have successfully launched 281 satellites,” Le Gall said. “And this will continue, as our order book today has 34 satellites for launch to geostationary orbit, along with six Ariane 5 missions with the Automated Transfer Vehicle, and 17 launches to be performed by Soyuz.

And since the beginning of 2010, we already have signed nine new contracts – the latest of which is with the Argentinean operator Arsat, which I am announcing today as a new contract.”

After its 6:41 p.m. liftoff from the Spaceport, the vehicle’s cryogenic upper stage was injected with the following provisional orbital parameters:
- Perigee: 249.9 km. for a target of 249.7 km.
- Apogee: 35,972 km. for a target of 35,958 km.
- Inclination: 2.00 deg. for a target of 2.00 deg.

During tonight’s launch, the Arabsat-5A satellite was deployed first during the flight sequence, being released from atop Ariane 5’s payload “stack” at 26 min. into the mission. Produced by Astrium and Thales Alenia Space on a turnkey contract for the Arabsat telecommunications operator, the satellite had a mass at liftoff of about 4,940 kg.

Arabsat-5A carries 24 Ku-band transponders and 28 C-band transponders for telecommunications and TV broadcasting services over the Middle East and Africa. Astrium provided the Eurostar 3000 spacecraft platform and was responsible for satellite integration, while Thales Alenia Space supplied the payload.

This mission marked another milestone in Arianespace’s 25-year relationship with the Saudi Arabia-based Arabsat telecommunications operator, which began with the launch of Arabsat 1A in 1985 on an Ariane 3 vehicle. A total of seven Arabsat satellites have been launched by Arianespace during the past 25 years.

The COMS satellite passenger was separated from Ariane 5 at 32 min. into tonight’s flight, completing this second heavy-lift mission of 2010. The multi-purpose COMS spacecraft for South Korea’s KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute) is fitted with three payloads for meteorological observation, ocean surveillance and experimental broadband multimedia communications services.