Arianespace says it has successfully launched two satellites – the military Skynet 5C military communications satellite and Turksat 3A for Turkish operator Turksat AS – into geostationary transfer orbit as part of a turnkey contract with Thales Alenia Space.
The launch took place Thursday evening, June 12th and is the latest successful launch of an Ariane 5, the third in 2008, and 25th in a row.
Turksat 3A was built by Thales Alenia Space using a Spacebus 4000B2 platform, within the scope of a turnkey contract awarded by the operator Turksat AS. Weighing 3,110 kg at launch, it will be positioned at 42 degrees East.
Fitted with 24 Ku-band transponders, and offering beginning-of-life power of about 8 kW, Turksat 3A will enable the operator Turksat to deliver communications services as well as TV broadcasts in Europe, Turkey and Central Asia.
