Arianespace today completed its ninth year of Ariane 5 operations with another successful dual-payload mission of the workhorse commercial vehicle, orbiting two telecommunications satellites for Europe’s Eutelsat telecommunications operator.The heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 7:35 p.m. local time, and deployed its HOT BIRD™ 9 and W2M passengers during a 32-minute flight.Payload lift performance for tonight’s launch was approximately 8,340 kg. for the combined weight of the two Eutelsat satellites. It brings the total payload mass lofted by Ariane 5’s six missions in 2008 to more than 56,700 kg. – including the 10 civilian and defense telecommunications spacecraft carried to geostationary transfer orbit, as well as the large Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which was placed in a 260-km. circular orbit to service the International Space Station.This flight was Ariane 5’s 28th consecutive successful mission, demonstrating that “launcher performance, reliability and availability can go hand-in-hand,” said Jean-Yves Le Gall, Arianespace’s Chairman & CEO, during post-launch comments at the Spaceport. This evening’s mission was the 42nd for Ariane 5, which made its first liftoff in 1996. Following the successful launch, Le Gall confirmed that Arianespace is continuing to maintain its leadership by announcing the signature of two additional Service & Solutions orders: one with U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems for the launch of Japan’s BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R; and the other with EADS Astrium to orbit the SSOT (Sistema Satelital para Observación de la Tierra) Earth observation satellite for the government of Chile. “Thanks to the work of each and every member of the Ariane team, Arianespace remained the preferred launch company in 2008,” Le Gall said. “This year is finishing very well, with our six Ariane 5 missions launching half of all the commercial satellites orbited worldwide in 2008; and Arianespace winning 12 of the total 16 contracts competed this year.” Congratulations to all the GTD engineers who have made possible this excellent year.
