Australian Optus D3 satellite launched on Ariane 5

Stephen Withers
Monday, 24 August 2009 04:39

IT Industry - Strategy

The latest Optus satellite was put into orbit this weekend by an Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift launcher.

The Optus D3 satellite will deliver direct-to-home TV broadcast, Internet, telephony and data transmission services for Australia and New Zealand.

Optus D3 will be used by Foxtel to increase the number of high-definition channels available to subscribers on its satellite pay TV service.

Two commercial satellites were aboard the Ariane 5 that took off from Europe's Spaceport, French Guiana, at nine minutes past midnight on Saturday morning (CEST).

The Japanese JCSat-12 was first to separate from the launcher. It will provide broadcast and broadband services covering Japan, the Oceania and Asia-Pacific regions, and Hawaii.

Less than eight minute later, Optus D3 separated.

The total mass of the satellites and associated hardware (7.6 tonnes) was well within Ariane 5's 9.6 tonnes capacity.