Ariane 5 Rocket Hauls Two Communications Satellites to Orbit

European and American communications satellites shared a ride to space Friday night aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, together becoming the heftiest dual payload ever lofted by the powerful commercial booster.

After a one-day delay due to unfavorable high-altitude winds, the 32nd flight of Ariane 5 roared off the jungle launch pad at 2229 GMT (6:29 p.m. EDT) from Kourou, French Guiana on South America's northeastern coast.

The liquid hydrogen-fueled Vulcain 2 main engine and twin solid rocket boosters accelerated the vehicle into the night sky. Enclosed in the rocket's nose cone were the satellite passengers -- the ASTRA 1L and Galaxy 17 communications satellites. The payloads and associated adapter equipment topped 20,680 pounds, setting a new weight record for the heavy-lift Ariane 5.

The solid motors burned out and jettisoned after a couple of minutes, leaving the cryogenic main stage to push the rocket before finishing its firing 104 miles over the Atlantic. The stage was shed to fall back to Earth.

The ECA upper stage then began its 15-minute propulsive job to inject the payload into a highly elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit with an apogee of 22,344 miles, perigee of 154 miles and inclination of 5.9 degrees to the equator.

About 27 minutes after liftoff, the European ASTRA 1L direct-to-home television satellite was released from atop the payload stack.

ASTRA 1L will join a dozen spacecraft in a constellation operated by SES ASTRA of Luxembourg. The system relays more than 1,800 television and radio channels to 109 million households in Europe. Lockheed Martin built ASTRA 1L using its A2100AX model design. The 9,900-pound craft is equipped with 29 Ku-band and two Ka-Band transponders to transmit programming directly to small receiving dishes on homes.

The spacecraft is headed for geostationary orbit where it will be located at 19.2 degrees East over the equator to begin a 15-year service life.

"We are very proud and satisfied that the ASTRA 1L launch has been a success," said Ferdinand Kayser, president and CEO of SES ASTRA. "ASTRA 1L will allow us to move our satellite ASTRA 2C from 19.2 degrees East to 28.2 East to fulfill the high capacity demand from the U.K. and Irish markets. It will also extend the coverage from the Canary Islands in the West to the Russian border in the East and help us to further strengthen our unique in-orbit back-up scheme."

Once ASTRA 1L was deployed from the Ariane 5, the barrel-like Sylda payload adapter was jettisoned to expose Galaxy 17 for its release from the rocket. The successful separation of Galaxy 17 from the upper stage to complete the launch came 32 minutes into the flight.

Galaxy 17 carries 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders for beaming video, voice and data transmissions across North America and the Caribbean for operator Intelsat. The 9,000-pound satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space using the Spacebus 3000 B3 design.

The satellite should enter service in July from the geostationary position at 74 degrees West above the equator, expanding Intelsat's orbiting fleet to 52 satellites.

Intelsat's future plans foresee Galaxy 17 being relocated to the 91-degree slot to join the firm's cable television relay network.

"We believe Galaxy 17 will be in demand from customers seeking high-powered C- and Ku-band capacity in North America. The 91-degree W orbital location is ideal for serving the media community, and is also well positioned to serve the data network and government markets," said Intelsat, Ltd. CEO David McGlade.

Galaxy 17 was the 45th Intelsat satellite to launch aboard an Ariane rocket since 1983.

"About 60 percent of Intelsat satellites have been launched by Arianespace, and this fall, we will launch two more satellites for Intelsat," said Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall. "I want to thank Intelsat for the confidence it has had in our company from the very beginning."

A familiar face in attendance to watch Friday's launch was NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. Later this year, an Ariane 5 rocket will ferry to orbit the first European-built Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo resupply freighter for the International Space Station.

"I am very pleased and honored to welcome tonight a U.S. delegation led by my personal friend, Mike Griffin, the NASA administrator," Le Gall said. "This delegation is visiting our facility in preparation for the historic ATV launch."

Up next on the Ariane 5 schedule is another commercial satellite deployment mission. The August launch will carry the American Spaceway 3 broadband communications satellite and the Japanese BSAT 3A direct-to-home TV spacecraft. It will be the third of six Ariane 5s intended to fly in 2007.

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