Ariane Wins Two Launch Contracts

Arianespace announced a pair of launch contracts for N-Star C and Stellat.

Orbital Sciences Corp. is providing the STAR Bus platform, ground facilities, and will manage the orbital positioning for N-Star C. Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, Newtown, Pennsylvania, is prime contractor for the N-Star C satellite as well as supplier of the payload and integration services. N-Star C is planned for launch by Ariane in late 2001 or early 2002. It will be located at either 132 or 136°East The 1600 kg (3526 lbm) satellite will be outfitted with S-band transponders. N-Star C was ordered by Japan’s NTT DoCoMo. The satellite is expected to have a design life of 10 years.

Alcatel Space is building Stellat for a new joint venture formed by France Telecom and Europe*Star as part of a turnkey in-orbit delivery contract. The Stellat satellite will be launched by Arianespace during the second half of 2002. The satellite will be built by Alcatel Space using a Spacebus 3000 B3 platform. Expected to weigh approximately 4100 kg (9036 lbm) at launch, it will be equipped with 35 Ku-band and 10 C-band transponders and positioned at 5°W. Stellat is a joint venture formed by France Telecom, which owns 70 percent, and Europe*Star, which holds the remaining 30 percent. It will be part of Loral’s Global Alliance.  

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