On Saturday, June 26, an Ariane 5 rocket successfully orbited the Arabsat-5A communications satellite for the operator Arabsat, and the COMS multimission satellite for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
FREE VIDEO ARIANE 5 V915 LAUNCH CLIP. CREDIT: ARIANESPACE. • WATCH ALL-ACCESS MEMBER VIDEO DOWNLOADS ARIANE 5 V915 LAUNCH CLIP. CREDIT: ARIANESPACE. • DOWNLOAD WATCH A REPLAY OF THE LAUNCH WEBCAST. CREDIT: ARIANESPACE. • DOWNLOAD "This launch is the 37th consecutive success for our Ariane 5 launcher, and it clearly demonstrates our policy of quality - which is exactly what you - our customers expect, and I thank you for the confidence you have always shown for us," Arianespace Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said in comments from the Spaceport’s Jupiter mission control room. The mission was carried out by an Ariane 5 ECA launcher from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on Saturday, June 26, 2010 at 6:41 pm local time in Kourou (5:41 p.m. in Washington, D.C., 21:41 UTC, 11:41 p.m. in Paris and on Sunday, June 27, at 12:41 a.m. in Riyadh, 6:41 a.m. in Seoul). During tonight’s launch, the Arabsat-5A satellite was deployed first during the flight sequence, being released from atop Ariane 5’s payload "stack" at 26 min. into the mission. Produced by Astrium and Thales Alenia Space on a turnkey contract for the Arabsat telecommunications operator, the satellite had a mass at liftoff of about 4,940 kg. This latest launch of Ariane 5, the 51st Ariane 5 and second in 2010, also marked the 37th successful launch in a row for Europe's heavy-lift launcher. Ariane 5 is the only commercial satellite launcher now on the market capable of simultaneously launching two payloads and handling a range of missions from commercial launches into geostationary orbit to scientific satellites boosted into special orbits. "Since the creation of our company 30 years ago, we have successfully launched 281 satellites," Le Gall said. "And this will continue, as our order book today has 34 satellites for launch to geostationary orbit, along with six Ariane 5 missions with the Automated Transfer Vehicle, and 17 launches to be performed by Soyuz. And since the beginning of 2010, we already have signed nine new contracts – the latest of which is with the Argentinean operator Arsat, which I am announcing tonight as a new contract." Arianespace and Arabsat have developed close ties over the 25 years since the launch of Arabsat 1A in 1985. Arabsat 5A is the seventh Arabsat satellite to have chosen the European launcher. The launch of South Korea’s COMS satellite continues a partnership that started nearly 20 years ago with the launch of Kitsat scientific microsats for SaTRec, Satellite Technology Research Center, and continued with the launch of the Koreasat-3 communications satellite for the operator Korea Telecom. Arabsat-5A weighed 4,939 kg. at launch. It was built by Astrium and Thales Alenia Space within the scope of a turnkey contract with satcom operator Arabsat, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Astrium provided the Eurostar E3000 platform and was responsible for satellite integration, while Thales Alenia Space supplied the payload. Arabsat-5A will provide telecommunications and TV broadcasting services in the Middle East and North Africa. Positioned at 30.5 degrees East, it has a design life exceeding 15 years. COMS, the Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite, weighed 2,460 kg. at launch and is fitted with three payloads. In addition to its meteorological observation and ocean surveillance missions, its orbital position over the Korean peninsula will enable it to provide broadband multimedia communications services. Program prime contractor Astrium built COMS under co-operative efforts with Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) using a Eurostar E3000 platform, fitted with a meteorological imaging system and an ocean observation payload. The Ka-Band telecommunication payload was developed by Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) in Korea and was supplied by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
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