The Ariane 5 successfully lifted off from Europe's Spaceport on Wednesday, deploying India's INSAT-4A telecommunications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit.
A few minutes later it also deployed the European MSG-2 second-generation Meteosat spacecraft into geostationary orbit.
The three-axis stabilized INSAT 4A carries a mixed payload of 12 Ku-band and 12 C-band transponders, and is the first in India's new INSAT 4A telecommunications spacecraft series that will provide coverage over the Indian subcontinent. It was designed, built and integrated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and had a liftoff mass of approximately 3,200 kg.
The MSG-2 platform is a spin-stabilized spacecraft developed by Alcatel Alenia Space to provide high-resolution images of the Earth's weather activity for the European Meteorological Satellite organization (Eumetsat). The 2,034-kg. satellite also will measure the planet's radiation balance for information on climate change.
The December 21st mission brings the Ariane 5 launches for 2005 to five. The flights used three standard Ariane 5G and two Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicles to orbit eight satellites, a combined payload weight of more than 24 metric tons. Arianespace's Starsem affiliate also launched a pair of Soyuz missions in 2005, placing two additional spacecraft into orbit.
Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said the next Ariane 5 mission is set for February 21. This will be another dual-satellite flight, using the heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA version to lift HOT BIRD 7A for Eutelsat and the SPAINSAT spacecraft for Hisdesat. The Arianespace CEO also confirmed that Starsem's year-ending Soyuz mission is on schedule for liftoff from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome on December 28 with the GIOVE A navigation satellite payload.
Source: Flight International
