Science

Two more satellites boosted by Ariane 5

by Stephen Withers

Friday, 13 June 2008

A successful Ariane 5 ECA launch has placed a pair of telecommunications satellites into orbit.

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One of the satellites was Skynet 5C (calm down, Terminator fans!), which will provide UK government and military users with secure communications.

The other was Turksat 3A, a communications and TV satellite that will serve Turkey, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

The satellites reached their transfer orbits approximately half an hour after liftoff, which occurred at 22:05 GMT on June 12.

The Ariane 5 ECA is capable of carrying payloads of up to 9.6 tonnes into geostationary transfer orbit. The combined weight of the two satellites launched last night was 7.7 tonnes; associated equipment took the total payload to 8.5 tonnes.

Scheduled for late June, the next Ariane flight will carry the ProtoStar 1 and BADR-6 satellites into orbit. The launcher will soon be moved to the Final Assembly Building.

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