The fourth Ariane 5 mission of 2010 successfully delivered two telecommunications satellites to geostationary transfer orbit today, marking the 53rd flight for Arianespace’s heavy-lift workhorse and its 39th consecutive success. Ariane 5 makes an on-time liftoff from the ELA-3 launch zone with its dual payload of the W3B and BSAT-3b satellites. Lifting off on time at 6:51 p.m. from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone in French Guiana, the Ariane 5 deployed its W3B and BSAT-3b passengers during a flight lasting just under 38 minutes. The launcher’s payload lift performance was approximately 8,260 kg., which included a combined 7,460 kg. mass for the two satellites, along with Ariane 5’s SYLDA 5 multi-payload dispenser system and associated integration hardware. Ariane 5 delivered another highly accurate performance in tonight’s mission, with the following provisional orbital parameters at the injection of its cryogenic upper stage: - Perigee: 249.2 km. for a target of 249.3 km. - Apogee: 35,907 km. for a target of 35,911 km. - Inclination: 2.00 deg. for a target of 2.00 deg. The 5,370-kg. W3B satellite for Eutelsat is the 25th Eutelsat satellite orbited by Arianespace, and it will offer significant flexibility for a wide range of services from TV broadcasting to professional data networks and broadband access. Based on Thales Alenia Space’s 4000 spacecraft platform, W3B would have a coverage area over Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands, with an operational design lifetime of 15 years. Unfortunately, the Eutelsat W3B was declared a total loss following discovery of a sizable leak in its fuel reservoir and ground teams, as of late Oct. 29, were preparing a maneuver to send it into the atmosphere to be destroyed, Eutelsat and satellite builder Thales Alenia Space. Starting Nov. 1, the 5,370-kilogram W3B will be guided toward an atmospheric re-entry, probably above the South Pacific Ocean, industry officials said. The procedure will likely force Eutelsat and Thales Alenia Space to work with regional maritime authorities to clear a corridor in the South Pacific for any W3B debris that might survive atmospheric re-entry.
