Arianespace have launched their Ariane 5 ECA on a mission to loft two satellites into orbit - namely Meteosat Second Generation-3 (MSG-3) and EchoStar XVII. Launch from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana was on schedule at the start of a 29 minute launch windowthat opened at 9:36pm GMT on Wednesday 4th July. It was the third Ariane 5 mission in 2012. Ariane 5 delivered a payload lift performance of more than 9,600 kg. during the mission, which included a combined total of over 7,500 kg. for the EchoStar XVII and MSG-3 spacecraft, plus the launch vehicle’s dual-passenger dispenser system and satellite integration hardware. EchoStar XVII – also known as “Jupiter” – is based on Space Systems/Loral’s powerful SS/L 1300 satellite platform, and will deliver broadband services to consumers, businesses and government customers across North America. It employs a multi-spot beam, bent-pipe Ka-band architecture that provides significant additional capacity for Hughes. With a liftoff mass of approximately 2,000 kg., MSG-3 will operate in geostationary orbit after its deployment by Ariane 5, providing highly detailed imagery of Europe, the North Atlantic and Africa for use by meteorologists and national weather forecasters. Arianespace’s mission with MSG-3 marked the ninth Meteosat-series satellite launched by Ariane vehicles from French Guiana since 1981 for operation in geostationary orbit.
