* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: THAICOM 4(IPSTAR) launch

Blobrana · L

The next launch to take place from Europe’s Spaceport will be Flight 168, an Ariane 5G dual launch mission scheduled for 29 September.

Blobrana · L

The mission was delayed briefly to verify telemetry readings from the Ariane 5's mobile launch table. THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR) and the Ariane 5 Generic vehicle were placed into a safe mode while this activity occurred.
Lift-off was on Thursday, August 11, 2005, 08:20 GMT (5:20 a.m local time in Kourou).

After its lift-off from the Spaceport's ELA-3 launch zone, tracking cameras followed the Ariane 5 during its ascent, clearly showing separation of the solid boosters two minutes into the mission. THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR) was released from the launcher's upper stage 26 minutes later.

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Image credit Arianespace

Provisional parameters at injection of the Ariane 5's storable propellant upper stage were:
Perigee: 574.8 km for a target of 575 km (± 3 km)
Apogee: 35,875 km for a target of 35,894 km (± 160 km)
Inclination: 6.98 degrees for a target of 7.00 degrees (± 0.06 °)

Blobrana · L

RE: THAICOM 4(IPSTAR) launched

Blobrana · L

RE: THAICOM 4(IPSTAR) launch

Blobrana · L

Ariane 5 is to launch THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR) on the morning of August 11, 2005.

After the completion of additional checks and work on parts of the launcher, Arianespace has decided to set a firm launch date.

The next launch is now scheduled for the night 10/11 August, 2005; a Generic version of the Ariane 5 will put into orbit the IPSTAR satellite for the Thai operator Shinsat.

Blobrana · L

After completion of further checks to the Ariane 5 launcher preparation facilities, Arianespace has decided to carry out a careful examination of the equipment involved.

A few additional days will be necessary to complete these operations.

A new launch date will be communicated next week.

Date: Jul 14 12:21 2005

Arianespace announced Wednesday that it has delayed the launch of the iPSTAR communications satellite for several days because of a problem with ground equipment at the launch site.
Arianespace had planned to launch the satellite on an Ariane 5G booster on July 11, but said an unspecified anomaly with ground equipment used to support the launch will force them to delay the launch several days. A new launch date will be announced "shortly", according to a company statement.
The launch will place into orbit iPSTAR (also known as Thaicom 4), a communications satellite operated by Thai company Shin Satellite designed primarily to provide broadband Internet services for customers in eastern Asia.

Blobrana · L

The satellite is scheduled for lift-off between 0640-0840 GMT July 14 from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.
An earlier launch target between June 24 and 25 was rescheduled when launch officials detected a technical problem with one of the two satellites slated to ride iPSTAR-1's rocket into space. A July 11 launch target was also rescheduled due to support equipment difficulties.

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-- Edited by Blobrana at 00:41, 2005-07-14

Blobrana · L

Thailand's Shin Satellite PCL said today it will have to postpone the scheduled launch date of its broadband satellite iPSTAR from Monday due to the detection of some irregularities in ground equipment used by the satellite's launcher.

The launcher, Arianespace, has notified the Thai company that it will take a few days to run additional checks on the ground equipment.
Shin Satellite will announce the new launch date shortly.
The $400 million satellite is scheduled to be lunched from a launch pad in French Guiana.
Initiated in 2000, the iPSTAR launch has been postponed at least three times since mid-2003 due to time-consuming construction and testing processes. The company claims that iPSTAR will be the world's largest commercial satellite.

Shin Satellite is 51%-owned by Shin Corp., the telecommunications conglomerate founded by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.