Kourou, August 6th Arianespace took it to the wire during their second attempt to launch two telecommunications satellites via their Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle on Saturday night, following a weather related delay, prior to launching at 22:52 UTC. The attempt came over a month since a fault with a LH2 valve on the vulcain core stage caused a scrub and rollback of the vehicle. The two passengers – ASTRA 1N and BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R – launched from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. During a 38-minute flight, this workhorse vehicle lofted the ASTRA 1N and BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R spacecraft, delivering an estimated payload lift performance to geostationary transfer orbit of 9,095 kg. – which included a combined mass of 8,240 kg. for the two satellites, along with the launcher’s dual-payload dispenser system and associated integration hardware. It marked the 203rd flight of an Ariane since the family of European-developed commercial launchers began operation in 1979, and was the 59th launch of an Ariane 5. The precision of Ariane 5 was demonstrated once again tonight, highlighting the on-target repeatability of this vehicle. The estimated orbital parameters at its cryogenic upper stage’s injection were: - Perigee: 249.7 km. for a target of 249.7 km. - Apogee: 35,957 km. for a target of 35,952 km. - Inclination: 2.01 deg. for a target of 2.00 deg.
