Ariane 5 GS Lofts Indian, European Satellites into Orbit

Europe's Ariane 5 GS rocket recently launched an Indian telecommunications satellite and a European weather satellite into orbit. CREDIT: ESA

DARMSTADT, Germany -- Europe's Ariane 5 GS rocket successfully placed an Indian telecommunications satellite and a European weather satellite into orbit Dec. 21, marking the first time the heavy-lift rocket has conducted five launches in a calendar year.

The launch of the Indian Space Research Organization's Insat 4A telecommunications satellite inaugurates a new generation of domestic communications spacecraft. Insat 4A will be used for Indian domestic governmental and commercial telecommunications. Its 12 Ku-band transponders have already been sold to direct-broadcast television companies serviing India, an illustration of the surging demand for satellite television in the subcontinent. The satellite also carries 12 C-band transponders.

It is a demand that several commercial satellite-fleet operators would like to serve. But India has a policy of obliging direct-broadcast satellite television companies to use India's satellites unless those satellites are full. The Indian Space Research Organization plans three more Insat 4 satellites for launch by the end of 2008.

The launch of the Metosat 9 satellite -- called MSG-2 before launch--for Europe's meteorological satellite organization, the 18 nation Eumetsat, will give Europe a backup satellite to join its twin, Meteosat 8, which is already operational. These two satellites are the first of the four Meteosat Second Generation spacecraft, which provide imagery from 12 spectral channels every 15 minutes.

The four Meteosat Second Generation satellites will provide climate and weather data through 2018. The total program is valued at 2 billion euros ($2.36 billion), including the the production, launch and operations of the four satellites.

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