Archive for the 'Arianespace' Category
Dec 18, 2009, post by Satellite News
The launch of a French military satellite from French Guiana has been delayed again
.
Arianespace informed it stopped the countdown in the final minutes before launch of the Helios 2B. Officials said Thursday that they would soon provide more details.
The original launch was delayed on Dec. 9 after officials informed they noticed an anomaly in the launcher subsystem.
The Helios 2B was built by EADS Astrium for France’s National Space Study Center.
It is expected to take images that will help officials create maps, prepare for military exercises and in other tasks.
The satellite is to be the 33rd military payload lofted by Arianespace, the commercial arm of the 13-country European Space Agency.
Nov 09, 2009, post by Satellite News
Arianespace has successfully launched the Ariane 5 ECA with its twin passengers, NSS-12 and THOR 6, from the Spaceport in French Guiana.
Lifting off on time at 5:00 p.m. from the Spaceport in French Guiana, the Ariane 5 deployed the two television broadcast satellites during a mission lasting 31 minutes. This was the 48th flight of an Ariane 5 and its 34th success in a row. Ariane 5’s payload lift performance for the daytime flight was a total of 9,515 kg., which included a combined total of approximately 8,700 kg. for the NSS-12 and THOR 6 spacecraft, plus the launch vehicle’s dual-passenger dispenser system and satellite integration hardware.
This mission with NSS-12 continues Arianespace’s 25-year relationship of uninterrupted cooperation with the SES Group of companies, which was initiated in 1984 with the launch of Spacenet 1 on the inaugural commercial Ariane mission performed by Arianespace. The NSS-12 satellite was released first during today’s launch, being deployed at 26 minutes into the flight. With a liftoff weight of approximately 5,620 kg., this spacecraft carries 40 C-band and 48 Ku-band transponders to deliver telecommunications and direct-to-home television broadcast services for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. It will be operated by SES WORLD SKIES from a geostationary orbit location of 57 deg. East, and is the second satellite launched by Arianespace this year for the SES group — following NSS-9, which was orbited by Ariane 5 in February. NSS-12 was produced by Space Systems/Loral and is the 35th platform from this U.S.-based satellite producer that Arianespace has launched.
THOR 6 was carried in the lower passenger position of Ariane 5’s payload “stack,” and it separated from the launcher at 31 minutes into the flight. Built in Europe by Thales Alenia Space, the 3,050-kg. satellite is fitted with 36 Ku-band transponders and will provide high-power, direct-to-home television services from an orbital location of 1 degree West. When in service for Telenor Satellite Broadcasting, the capacity delivered by THOR 6 will respond to the growing broadcast demands within Central and Eastern Europe and also deliver additional capacity in the Nordic region. Arianespace’s next mission is planned for early December with the Helios 2B French military reconnaissance satellite, marking Ariane 5’s final flight of this year.
Nov 09, 2009, post by Satellite News
An Ariane-5 rocket placed two television satellites in orbit after blasting off from French Guiana, space officials informed.
The rocket lifted off from the European Space Agency’s launch center in Kourou on the northeast coast of South America at 5:00 p.m. (2000 GMT).
Twenty-seven minutes after launch, the rocket released the NSS-12 satellite for Luxembourg-based telecoms operator SES Global.
NSS-12 will deliver television and telecommunications to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. It was built in the United States by Space Systems/Loral.
Five minutes later, Thor-6 for Norwegian operator Telenor separated from the rocket. Thor will broadcast direct-to-home television to Scandinavia and central and eastern Europe.
Thor was built by the Franco-Italian satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space. The company is 67 percent owned by France’s Thales and 33 percent by Italy’s Finmeccanica.
Thursday’s launch was the 34th consecutive successful mission of the Ariane rocket series.
