Ariane launches three satellites
Posted: Sat, Oct 14, 2006, 9:05 AM ET (1305 GMT)
An Ariane 5 successfully launched two commercial communications satellites and a Japanese experimental satellite Friday evening. The Ariane 5 ECA lifted off from the Kourou, French Guiana spaceport at 4:56 pm EDT (2056 GMT) and placed the three satellites into transfer orbits about a half-hour later. The two primary payloads on the spacecraft were two commercial communications satellites, DirecTV 9S and Optus D1. DirecTV 9S is a Space Systems/Loral 1300-series spacecraft weighing 5,530 kg. The spacecraft will be located 101 degrees west to augment DirecTV's fleet of television broadcast satellites. Optus D1 is a Star 2-series spacecraft built by Orbital Sciences Corporation and weighing 2,300 kg at launch. The spacecraft, carrying 30 Ku-band transponders, will operate from 160 degrees west. The Ariane also launched as a secondary payload the Large Deployable Reflector Small-sized Partial Model 2 (LDREX-2) spacecraft for the Japanese space agency JAXA. The small spacecraft carried out a test of a deployable antenna shortly after launch, although the results of that test will not be reported until next week. The launch was the fourth this year for the Ariane 5.
An Ariane 5 successfully launched two commercial communications satellites and a Japanese experimental satellite Friday evening. The Ariane 5 ECA lifted off from the Kourou, French Guiana spaceport at 4:56 pm EDT (2056 GMT) and placed the three satellites into transfer orbits about a half-hour later. The two primary payloads on the spacecraft were two commercial communications satellites, DirecTV 9S and Optus D1. DirecTV 9S is a Space Systems/Loral 1300-series spacecraft weighing 5,530 kg. The spacecraft will be located 101 degrees west to augment DirecTV's fleet of television broadcast satellites. Optus D1 is a Star 2-series spacecraft built by Orbital Sciences Corporation and weighing 2,300 kg at launch. The spacecraft, carrying 30 Ku-band transponders, will operate from 160 degrees west. The Ariane also launched as a secondary payload the Large Deployable Reflector Small-sized Partial Model 2 (LDREX-2) spacecraft for the Japanese space agency JAXA. The small spacecraft carried out a test of a deployable antenna shortly after launch, although the results of that test will not be reported until next week. The launch was the fourth this year for the Ariane 5.
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