Advanced Television

Arianespace success for Arabsat/India

November 11, 2015

By Chris Forrester

An Ariane 5 rocket successfully placed into geostationary transfer orbit two satellites on November 10th.

The rocket, carrying the ARABSAT-6B and GSAT-15 spacecraft, lifted off at the start of the launch window, at  4:34 p.m. EDT (21:34 GMT) from Ariane’s Launch Complex No. 3 (ELA 3) at Europe’s spaceport, located in Kourou, French Guiana.

The mission, designated VA 227, lasted a total of one hour and eight minutes. Ariane 5, carrying a total payload of nearly 10 metric tons, was flawless, with both satellites sending back messages that they were working nominally.

“Launch after launch, we are demonstrating our capability to increase our operational pace while remaining the most reliable solution for all our customers,” said Arianespace Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël, who provided his post-flight comments from the Spaceport’s mission control center.

While the emphasis was put squarely on the customers for today’s mission, Flight VA227 also continued a busy year of launch activity for Arianespace – which is on pace to perform a record 12 launches from the Spaceport using its Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega vehicles, having now completed 10 so far.

Categories: Articles, DTH/Satellite