ESA / ARIANESPACE Flight VA211 poster.
Dec. 19, 2012
Ariane 5 ECA launch with Skynet 5D and Mexsat Bicentenario satellite passengers
Successful launch for Ariane 5 ECA tonight at 21:49 GMT (22:49 CET; 18:49 French Guiana). Arianespace’s Ariane 5 flight with the Skynet 5D and Mexsat Bicentenario satellite passengers tonight wrapped up another busy year of company launch activity, with its successes highlighted by the theme of “10.”
Launch of the Ariane Flight VA211
Video above: Launch of Mexsat-3 Bincentenario and Skynet-5D satellites with an Ariane 5 rocket (flight VA211) from French Guiana's Arianespace Spaceport.
Built by Astrium, Skynet 5D weighed approximately 4,800 kg. at launch, and is the fourth for the British military’s Skynet 5 satellite system. This spacecraft is designed to reinforce and extend the operational services provided by the three other Skynet 5 satellites – all orbited by Ariane 5 – and will be located over the Middle East at a 53 deg. East orbital slot. The Skynet program is operated as a Private Finance Initiative with the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence.
Skynet 5D satellite
Mexsat Bicentenario weighed an estimated 2,935 kg. for liftoff, and is based on Orbital Sciences Corporation’s GEOStar-2 platform. It is to provide communications services to Mexico and its surrounding waters from the 114.9 deg. West Longitude orbital slot. Orbital was designated by Boeing to provide the Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) segment of the Mexsat satellite system for the Federal Government of Mexico.
Mexsat Bicentenario satellite
As Arianespace celebrated a 2012 to remember in terms of its launch activity, the company already is looking to next year’s activity – with preparations well advanced for an Ariane 5 launch in February, which is to orbit the Amazonas 3 and Azerspace/Africasat-1 telecommunications satellites.
Related links:
Astrium website: http://www.astriumservices.com/
Astrium Services website: http://www.astriumservices.com/
Federal Government of Mexico - Ministry of Communications and Transportation website: http://www.sct.gob.mx/index.php?L=1
Arianesapce: http://www.arianespace.com/index/index.asp
Images, Video, Text, Credits: ESA / Arianespace / Arianespace TV / Astrium / Boeing / Catherine Laplace-Builhe / Orbiter.ch Aerospace.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
