Ariane 5 Launches Two Telecommunication Spacecraft

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Ariane 5 Launches Two Telecommunication Spacecraft

More Information:

An Ariane 5 successfully launched 2 telecommunication satellites from Kourou, pad ELA 3 at 2321 UTC on July 5. Stellat 5 and N-Star C were injected into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) with a perigee of 578.9 km [for a target of 579.5 km (+/- 4 km)], an apogee of 35,855 km [for a target of 35,881 km (+/- 260 km)] and an inclination of 5.49 degrees [for a target of 5.50 degrees (+/- 0.07 degrees)]. Stellat 5 will be positioned at 5°W. N-Star C will be located at 136°E.

N-Star C was built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems of Newtown, Pennsylvania, which supplied the payload and was responsible for integration. Orbital Sciences Corp. provided the satellite bus and ground facilities, and will handle satellite positioning in orbit. The satellite is owned by and will be operated by NTT DoCoMo. The 1645 kg (3619 lbm) spacecraft will provide mobile phone services throughout Japan for 15 years. The spacecraft carries one C-band transponder and 20 S-band transponders.

Stellat 5 was built by Alcatel Space, using the Spacebus 3000 B3 platform. The 4050 kg (8910 lbm) spacecraft is equipped with and 10 C- and 35 Ku-band transponders. Stellat 5 is a multi-purpose communications satellite which will be operated by Stellat, a joint venture between France Telecom and Europe*Star.

The next Ariane mission, designated Flight 155, is scheduled for late August 2002. An Ariane 5 will launch two spacecraft into geosynchronous transfer orbit: Atlantic Bird 1 for Alenia Spazio, and Eumetsat's MSG 1.

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July 5, 2002