Arianespace has decided to delay the launch of Flight VA230 with EchoStar XVIII and BRIsat aborard, planned for June 16, 2016, by 24 hours.
During operations to transfer the Ariane 5 ECA launcher for Flight VA230, an anomaly occurred with an umbilical connection on the upper portion of the launcher.
As a result, Arianespace has decided to delay the launch for 24 hours in order to replace this equipment and perform the necessary verifications.
Liftoff of the Ariane 5 is now planned for Friday, June 17, 2016, as early as possible within the following launch window from 5:30 p.m. to 6:40 p.m., local time in French Guiana; from 20:30 to 21:40, GMT.
EchoStar XVIII is the mission’s upper passenger, and it is to be orbited for operator DISH Network. The spacecraft features a high-power multi-spot beam in the Ku-band to assure ongoing service to DISH customers in the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Joining EchoStar XVIII on Arianespace’s next mission is BRIsat, a payload for P.T. Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. (BRI). As the world’s first dedicated banking communications satellite, it will provide enhanced secure banking communications for more than 10,600 operational branches, as well as to some 237,000 electronic channel outlets and nearly 53 million customers across the Indonesian archipelago.
Both the EchoStar XVIII and BRIsat relay platforms were built by US-based SSL (Space Systems Loral), and are to be delivered by Ariane 5 into geostationary transfer orbit.
