The workhorse Ariane 5 orbited a pair of payloads – ASTRA 5B for SES and HISPASAT’S Amazonas 4A – this evening, continuing the relationships with two customers that have come to rely on Arianespace’s launch services. Lifting off from the Spaceport in French Guiana, Flight VA216 provided a total payload lift performance of some 9,580 kg. on the delivery mission to geostationary transfer orbit. It was one of multiple launch campaigns currently underway for Arianespace missions, covering its full launcher family – composed of the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and light-lift Vega. ASTRA 5B was deployed by Ariane 5 at 27 minutes into the mission, with Amazonas 4A separated from the launcher at 34 minutes after liftoff. This was Ariane 5’s second flight in 2014, and the 73rd overall launch of the vehicle – continuing its on-target track record with the 59th consecutive success. The mission was designated Flight VA216 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system. Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël noted that ASTRA 5B was the SES group’s 39th satellite to use Arianespace launchers in the framework of a 25-year-long cooperation that started in December 1988 with the launch of ASTRA 1A. SES operates the leading direct-to-home (DTH) satellite broadcast system in Europe based on its ASTRA family of satellites, serving more than 135 million households via cable and DTH networks. ASTRA 5B was produced by Airbus Defence and Space using a Eurostar 3000 L platform, and had a mass at liftoff of more than 5,700 kg. It is fitted with 40 active Ku-band and 6 Ka-band transponders, and will be positioned at 31.5 degrees East. Also aboard ASTRA 5B is an L-band payload for the European geostationary navigation overlay system, EGNOS. Amazonas 4A was the eighth satellite launched by Arianespace for Spain, and the sixth for HISPASAT. It is part of the Amazonas relay platform series that is expanding HISPASAT’s business over South America. Tonight’s flight was the 73rd launch for Arianespace’s heavy-lift Ariane 5, which operates from the Spaceport in French Guiana. After tonight’s Ariane 5 success, Arianespace’s next mission continues in preparation at the Spaceport: Soyuz Flight VS07, scheduled for liftoff on April 3 with Europe’s Sentinel-1A Earth observation spacecraft. GTD AT KOUROU SPACE CENTER Each time an Ariane 5, a Soyuz or a VEGA are launched from the spaceport in Guiana, as well as the payload, many hours of work are required from GTD’s technical teams. GTD supplies services and software in practically all steps of an Ariane 5 mission – from the launcher's flight program to the responsibility of ground systems that control the launching operations, as well as the radars, telemetry and mission control systems. Each launch is also a challenge for GTD’s team, who is responsible for all the computer systems at the launch site. Each launch is a fresh new project; there is no routine, which means our engineers always embark on an adventure than goes beyond technical jobs that require a lot of responsibility. Countdown: The campaign to prepare a launcher takes about 22 - 30 working days, and a campaign to prepare the payload (satellite) takes from 4 weeks to 5 months (depending on the mission and its magnitude). Our teams are currently able to launch up to seven double Ariane 5, up to four soyuz and up to two Vega per year, that is, 14 telecom satellites and 4 to 6 EO and scientific spacecraft every year. Launch day: The end of the countdown is near. The final operations to fill the liquid propellants on the Ariane 5, and then the ground operation tests are carried out on the launcher. During this stage, gtd's staff is working hard all round the Spaceport. In the launch site's bunker, the technical centre, in Des Pêres Mountain where the radar and telemetry installations are, in the meteorological centre where the last conditions before the launch is authorised. At the same time, a support team is configuring a backup of the computer systems in Barcelona, 8,000 km away from the Ariane 5, which is already letting out oxygen steam. Ariane is launched: Once the launcher is in the air, it is controlled on board (by the embedded computer) and from the Jupiter Control Centre (CDC). These two systems were also designed by GTD’s engineers and are currently being operated by GTD’s engineers, too. Once the launcher releases the payloads (at a height of 500 - 600 km), everyone breathes a sigh of relief and starts clapping and cheering and congratulating each other; but our engineers are already thinking about the next mission that starts the following morning…
