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ARIANE 5 LAUNCHES TWO TELECOMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES
02 November 2006 - European Space Agency
| An Ariane 5 ECA launcher lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites into geostationary transfer orbits. Lift-off of flight V172 took place at 22:15 GMT/UTC (19:15 local time, 00:15 / 12 August CEST/Paris). The satellites were accurately injected into the correct transfer orbits about 30 minutes later. |
The payload satellites were JCSAT-10, which will supply fixed satellite services for Japan, the Asia-Pacific region and Hawaii, and Syracuse 3B, which will provide communications for the French armed forces.
Flight timeline
The Ariane 5’s cryogenic, liquid fuelled, main engine was ignited first. Seven seconds later, the solid fuel rocket boosters were also fired, and a fraction of a second after that, the launch vehicle lifted off. The solid boosters were jettisoned 2min:18sec after main engine ignition, and the fairing protecting the payload during the climb through the Earth’s atmosphere was discarded at 3min:12sec. The launcher’s main engine was shut down at 8min:52sec and the main cryogenic stage separated from the upper stage and its payload just over nine minutes into the flight. Four seconds after main stage separation, the engine of the launcher’s cryogenic upper stage was ignited to continue the journey. The upper stage engine was shut down at 24min:39sec into the flight, at which point the launch vehicle was travelling at over 9400 metres per second (nearly 34 000 kilometres per hour) at an altitude of 550 kilometres and the conditions for geostationary transfer orbit injection had been achieved. At 27min:07 sec, JCSAT-10 separated from the launcher, followed Syracuse 3B at 32min:50sec.
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About: European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe. ESA has 15 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. ESA’s job is to draw up the European space programme and carry it through. The Agency’s projects are designed to find out more about the Earth, its immediate space environment, the solar system and the Universe, as well as to develop satellite-based technologies and services, and to promote European industries. ESA also works closely with space organisations outside Europe to share the benefits of space with the whole of mankind. |
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