* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Skynet 5B satellite

Blobrana · L

Skynet 5B/Star One C1 mission at a glance
The mission was carried out by an Ariane 5 ECA launcher from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on Wednesday, November 14, at 07:06 p.m. local time in Kourou (22:06 UT, 8:06 p.m. in Rio de Janeiro, 5:06 p.m. in Washington, D.C., and 11:06 p.m. in Paris).

Provisional parameters at injection of the Ariane 5's cryogenic upper stage (ESC-A) were:
Perigee: 250 km for a target of 250 km (±4)
Apogee: 35,953 km for a target of 35,786 km (±240)
Inclination: 6.00 degrees for a target of 6.00 degrees (±0.06°)

Skynet 5B is being launched on behalf of Astrium, which is delivering the satellite in orbit to Paradigm. The private company Paradigm will offer secure communications services for British armed forces, NATO and other countries. Built by Astrium using a Eurostar 3000 platform, Skynet 5B weighs about 4,700 kg. It will be positioned at 56 degrees East.

The Star One C1 satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space as part of a turnkey contract with Brazilian operator Star One. Based on a Spacebus 3000 B3 platform, it weighs about 4,100 kg at launch. It will be positioned at 65 degrees West. Star One C1 is fitted with 28 C-band transponders, 14 Ku-band transponders and one X-band transponder. Star One C1 will provide communications, multimedia and broadband Internet services for South America.

Source

Blobrana · L

Ariane 5 - fifth launch of six in 2007
Yesterday evening, an Ariane 5 ECA launcher lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two satellites into geostationary transfer orbits. Lift-off of flight V179 took place at 22:06 GMT/UTC (19:06 local time, 23:06 CET/Paris). The satellites were accurately injected into the correct transfer orbits about 30 minutes later.
The payload comprised Skynet 5B, a secure telecommunications satellite for the British armed forces, and Star One C1, a C-, Ku-, and X-band telecommunications, multimedia and broadband internet satellite that will serve South America. The payload mass was 9535 kg; the satellite masses totalled 8753 kg, with payload adapters and dispensers making up the additional 782 kg. This is a new record for an Ariane 5 ECA.

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Blobrana · L

A European rocket loaded with two satellites blasted off Wednesday evening from a launch pad in South America despite partially cloudy conditions at liftoff.
The Ariane 5 rocket took off from the Kourou launch centre and cruised through a deck of broken, low clouds powered by two boosters and its cryogenic main engine, according to a statement from Arianespace, the commercial arm of the 13-country European Space Agency that organized the launch.

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Blobrana · L

Britain has launched Skynet 5B - the latest spacecraft in a sophisticated new military communications system.
The satellite rode into orbit atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Kourou spaceport, in French Guiana.
The Skynet payload separated from the Ariane just 27 minutes into the flight and was soon picked up by controllers through a ground station in Africa.
The spacecraft will need about 20 days of manoeuvres to take up a geostationary position at 53 degrees East.

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Blobrana · L

Blobrana · L

Tonight's launch of 9.5 tonnes into geostationary orbit of two satellites marks a new lifting record for Arianespace

Blobrana · L

Separation of STAR ONE C1 satellite

Blobrana · L

Separation of Sylda 5

Blobrana · L

Separation of SKYNET 5B satellite