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Ariane
5 Successfully Launches Insat 3A and Galaxy 12
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An Ariane 5G
successfully launched Insat 3A and Galaxy 12 from Kourou, pad ELA
3, at 22:52 UTC on April 9. Galaxy 12 will be located at 74°W.
Insat 3A will be located at 93.5°E. Provisional parameters of the
geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) are a perigee of 859.3 km (for
a target of 860 km +/- 3 km), an apogee of 36,055 km (for a target
of 36,057 km +/- 160 km) and an inclination of 1.99 degrees (for a
target of 2.00 degrees +/- 0.05 degrees).
 Galaxy
12 was built by Orbital Sciences, using the Star 2 bus, for
PanAmSat Corp. The 1760 kg (3879 lbm) spacecraft carries 24 C-band
transponders,  and
has a 15 year design life guarantee, with 2.640 kW power at EOL.
The satellite will initially serve as an on-orbit spare.
Insat 3A was
built by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) for its own
use. The 2945 kg (6490 lbm) spacecraft carries 18 C-band and 6
Ku-band transponders. The 3-axis stabilized satellite has  stowed
dimensions of 2.8 x 1.7 x 2 m. The satellite is expected to have
3.230 kW of power available at EOL (end-of-life) of 15 years. The
satellite will provide telecommunications and TV transmission
services for the Indian sub-continent, while also providing
meteorological observations, as well as being equipped with a
search and rescue capability.
SPACEandTECH reported
earlier that ISRO had contracted with Arianespace to launch Insat
4A. An Ariane press release associated with this launch, says that
ISRO has also contracted with Ariane to launch Insat 4B. Insat 4B
is expected to mass 3,200 kg at launch, and carry 12 C-band and 12
Ku-band transponders. Insat 4B is scheduled for a 2005 launch.
The
next Ariane 5G is scheduled for launch in early June and is
manifested to carry Optus C1 and BSat 2C. Arianespace plans to
resume flights of the upgraded Ariane 5 ECA some time in early
2004, most likely on a test flight carrying a dummy spacecraft.
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