ARIANESPACE HAS WON a contract from European satellite-communications organisation Eutelsat to launch three new spacecraft: two Eutelsat 3s and the Hot Bird 4, to be launched by Ariane 4s or 5s. Three Eutelsat 3s are on order from Aerospatiale, with an option for four more. The Hot Bird 4 is being built by Matra Marconi Space.
The contract brings the Arianespace launch backlog to 39. The latest flight, the V80 on 17 November, was the tenth by an Ariane in 1995. It carried the European Space Agency's Infra-red Space Observatory (ISO).
The 2,500kg ISO will operate from a unique 500 x 71,760km orbit (Flight International, 5-11 July). The ISO's cryogenically cooled infra-red telescope will be used to observe all classes of astronomical objects, from planets to distant galaxies, investigating very weak sources of heat in the universe.
The Ariane V81, scheduled for a 6 December launch, will carry the Telecom 2C and Insat 2C communications satellites on the eleventh and final flight in 1995. Arianespace plans a record 12 launches in 1996, starting with the V82/44L, carrying the PanAmSat 3 and Measat 1 satellites (Flight International, 27 September-3 October).
Source: Flight International
