Ariane 5 boosters put two satellites into orbit

Europe's Ariane 5 heavy rocket boosters yesterday brought two orbiting satellites into orbit, in the fourth mission since the beginning of this year.

Two satellites were put on a static geostationary orbit (GTO), respectively Astra 1N and BSAT-3c / JCSAT-110R , reported by Xinhua . They were launched by the Ariane 5 rocket at 2252 GMT, from the Kourou space center, north of Guyana overseas province in South America, France.

Astra 1N, separated from the previous rocket, is a product developed by EADS Astrium in Toulouse, France, for the leading European satellite service provider based in Luxembourg, SES Astra.

Ariane 5 boosters (Photo: Arianespace)

With a design life of 15 years, Astra 1N weighs about 5.350 kg and is fully compatible with 52 active Ku band signal transducers. Initially, the Astra 1N temporarily operated in an orbital position of 28.2 degrees East, but will soon move to the main position of the SES Astra at 19.2 degrees East.

Meanwhile, BSAT-3c / JCSAT-110R is produced by the cosmic commercial branch of Lockheed Martin manufacturer in Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA. This satellite was transferred to Japanese satellite service providers B-SAT Corporation and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. BSAT-3c / JCSAT-110R weighs about 2,910 kg. It was placed at 110 degrees east on geostationary orbit, with an operating life of up to 16 years.

This is the 4th mission of Ariane 5 boosters in 2011, and its 203th flight since its inception. Ariane 5's latest flight had been postponed twice before, first due to a technical incident in early June and then due to bad weather. Ariane 5 is a product of Arianespace, the French aerospace company, and the first company in the world to carry out commercial transport in the universe.