spacetoday.net: Ariane 5 performs 50th straight successful launch

Posted: Fri, Aug 3, 2012, 9:37 AM ET (1337 GMT)
Ariane 5 ECA launch of Intelsat 20 and Hylas 2 (ESA)

An Ariane 5 rocket launched two communications satellites Thursday evening on the rocket's 50th consecutive successful launch. The Ariane 5 ECA lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 4:54 pm EDT (2054 GMT) Thursday and placed the Intelsat 20 and Hylas 2 satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit about a half-hour later. Intlesat 20, built by Space Systems/Loral for Intelsat, weighed 6,094 kilograms at launch and will provide C-, Ku-, and Ka-band coverage of much of the eastern hemisphere from its final location at 68.5 degrees east in GEO. Hylas 2, built by Orbital Sciences Corporation for Avanti Communications, weighed 3,311 kilograms at launch and will provide Ka-band broadband communications for portions of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The combined payload mass of the launch (including payload adapter) of 10,182 kilograms set a record for a mission to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The launch was also the 50th consecutive successful launch for an Ariane 5 booster; the last Ariane 5 failure was in late 2002.