ARIANESPACE - Flight VA242 Mission poster.
April 5, 2018
Liftoff of Arianespace’s Ariane 5 with DSN-1/Superbird-8 and HYLAS 4
Arianespace has successfully launched two telecommunications satellites: DSN-1/Superbird-8 for the Japanese operator SKY Perfect JSAT; and HYLAS 4 for the British operator Avanti Communications.
Arianespace’s third launch of the year took place on Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 6:34 p.m. (local time) from the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
With this 98th launch of Ariane 5, the heavy-lift launcher has now transported more than 200 satellites since its entry in service.
Launch Successful - VA242
DSN-1/Superbird-8 is the 19th satellite launched by Arianespace for SKY Perfect JSAT. SKY Perfect JSAT is the leading satellite operator in Asia, and plays a major role in the satellite broadcasting and telecommunications markets.
Arianespace has two more SKY Perfect JSAT satellites in its order book: Horizons 3e and JCSAT-17.
Superbird-8 will provide telecom services, primarily for the Japanese market, and will replace Superbird-B2, launched by Arianespace in 2000.
DSN-1/Superbird-8 satellite
DSN-1 is an X-Band Defense Communications Satellite, in association with the Program to Upgrade and Operate X-Band Satellite Communications Function, for which the DSN Corporation, a subsidiary of SKY Perfect JSAT, has concluded a program contract with Japan’s Ministry of Defense.
With this latest successful launch, Arianespace confirms its status as a benchmark launch services provider for the country’s two leading operators, SKY Perfect JSAT and B-SAT.
Since launching JCSAT-1 in 1989, Arianespace holds nearly 75% of the Japanese geostationary satellite launch market open to competition.
Arianespace has launched the entire operational fleet of British operator Avanti Communications. HYLAS 4 is the third satellite launched for this company by Arianespace, following HYLAS 1 (in November 2010) and HYLAS 2 (August 2012). The HYLAS 3 auxiliary payload, integrated in the EDRS-C satellite, will be launched as well by Ariane 5.
HYLAS 4 satellite
At the forefront of Ka-band satellite communications in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Avanti Communications’ HYLAS satellite fleet provides broadband Internet access via top service providers to homess, schools, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and governments.
Thanks to its Ka-band capacity, HYLAS 4 will provide secure and reliable satellite communications services to Internet Service Providers (ISP), Mobile Network Operators (MNO’s), governments and satellite operators throughout Europe. This High Throughput satellite will also cover regions in central and western Africa, while its steerable spotbeams will enable it to cover Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East and South America.
Related links:
Orbital ATK: https://www.orbitalatk.com/
SKY Perfect JSAT: https://www.sptvjsat.com/en/
ARIANESPACE: http://www.arianespace.com/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: Arianespace/SKY Perfect JSAT/Avanti.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
