WATCH VIDEO. The fifth Arianespace mission of 2010 orbited two telecommunications payloads on Friday, November 26. Lifting off from the Spaceport in French Guiana, the Ariane 5 deployed its Intelsat 17 and Hylas 1 satellites during a daytime mission lasting 49 minutes.
It was the 54th mission for the workhorse Arianespace vehicle and the 198th flight of an Ariane family launcher.
Intelsat 17 was released first during the mission. This 5,500-kg spacecraft was built by Space Systems/Loral using its LS 1300 Omega satellite bus and will deliver a wide range of communications services for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India. The satellite will be positioned at an orbital slot of 66 degrees East, operating with 25 Ku-band and 24 C-band transponders.
Arianespace Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gal noted Arianespace’s long relationship with Intelsat, which spans almost three decades. “It was a few kilometres from here that an Ariane 1 launcher – operating from the ELA 1 launch site – orbited the Intelsat 5 satellite, which also was built by Space Systems/Loral. Nearly 30 years later, we are marking the 51st satellite launched by Arianespace for Intelsat, which – over the years – has become one of our most important customers.”
Hylas 1 is the first satellite lofted by Arianespace for Avanti Communications. Designed and built by EADS Astrium in partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation, Hylas 1 is to bring high-speed broadband services to remote rural areas across Europe – using the flexibility of its payload to change the bandwidth of its 8 Ka-band beams from an orbital position of 33.5 degrees West, maximizing the satellite’s efficiency. This is complemented by a Ku-band broadcast capability.
“I would like to congratulate Avanti Communications for this superb entry into the world of space-based telecommunications operators,” Le Gall said.
Watch the video here
