Heavy-lift Ariane-5 rocket orbits two satellites
By Laurent Marot
KOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) — A heavy-lift Ariane-5
rocket put two telecommunications satellites into orbit after a
long delayed launch from French Guiana late on Saturday, space
officials said.
The rocket blasted-off from Europe’s space base in Kourou,
on the northeast coast of South America at 7:32 p.m. (2232
GMT).
Initially due to be launched on February 21, the mission
was delayed three times because of technical problems.
Billed by the Arianespace rocket launch company as a cost
effective launcher for double satellite missions, the
heavy-lift rocket is capable of launching payloads of up to 10
tonnes.
This adds more than 3 tonnes of launch capacity to the
current “Generic” Ariane-5 in service since the mid-1990s.
Twenty-seven minutes after the launch, the rocket released
into a preliminary orbit the SPAINSAT, a 3.7 tonne satellite
for Spain’s Defense Ministry built in California by Space
Systems/Loral.
“With SPAINSAT in orbit, space will be able to triple its
secure (military) communications on Spanish territory and in
international operations,” Miguel-Angel Garcia Primo, SPAINSAT
mission director said after the launch.
Five minutes later, the rocket orbited HOT BIRD 7A, a 4.1
tonne satellite for Paris-based telecoms operator Eutelsat.
HOT BIRD will provide telephone, data and video
transmissions across throughout Europe, North Africa and the
Middle East. It was built by an industrial team led by Alcatel
Alenia space..
Eutelsat officials said HOT BIRD was one of the first
satellites on the market broadcasting digital high definition
television.
On Thursday, French President Jacques Chirac, under fire
from European Union officials for shielding French companies
from foreign bidders, called for greater European cooperation
on space projects.
European aerospace group EADS, prime contractor for the
Arianespace rocket series, reported a sharper than expected 39
percent rise in its net profit on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Alexander Miles)