ESA places U.S. satellite into orbit

The European Space Agency says it has placed the heaviest and most powerful telecommunications satellite ever launched into a geostationary transfer orbit.

An Ariane 5 rocket lifted off shortly before 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana to place the U.S. satellite — TerreStar 1 — into an orbit that ranges from 155 miles to 22,000 miles.

TerreStar 1 will operate in the 2 gigahertz portion of the spectrum to provide voice, data and video communications to satellite/terrestrial mobile devices the size of a typical smart phone, the ESA said in a statement. TerreStar 1′s coverage is tailored to provide critical services for government, emergency responders, rural communities and commercial users throughout the United States and Canada.

The satellite will be operated by the TerreStar Corp. of Reston, Va.