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Ariane 5 Carries Japanese and Australian Satellites
By Associated Press
posted: 08:30 pm ET
11 June 2003
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EVRY, France (AP) -- An Ariane-5 rocket lifted off from its South American base Wednesday and placed two telecommunications satellites -- Australian and Japanese -- into geostationary transfer orbit. Liftoff was at 6:38 p.m. EDT (2238 GMT). It was the European rocket's third launch this year. The rocket, carrying a total payload of six tons, fired into space in a perfect launch from its pad in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northern shoulder of South America. Some 35 minutes later, the unmanned rocket placed into orbit Australia's OPTUS and Defense C1 communications satellite and Japan's BSAT-2C direct broadcast television satellite. "This launch is a representation of Arianespace's involvement and dedication to the Asian market," Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said after the successful mission. "We are very proud to serve two important customers from this part of the world." The Australian satellite has a two-fold mission, defense and commercial. It is to handle commercial telecommunications for Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Southeast Asia. It also is to provide "specialized liaisons" for the Australian Defense Ministry for the next 15 years. The BSAT-2C is to serve live television broadcasts around Japan for the next decade from its position over the island of Borneo. The next European launch is set for the end of August, according to Arianespace, the Ariane program's commercial arm. That launch, targeted to fly Aug. 28, is to carry the Indian Space Research Organization's INSAT 3E and Eutelsat's e-Bird communications satellites, as well as the European Space Agency's SMART 1 technology demonstration craft, which is to orbit the Moon. The Ariane 5 is currently the only rocket in the series functioning. The Ariane 4 had its last launch in February, and a souped-up version of Ariane 5 had a setback in December when it went awry minutes after the launch and had to be destroyed.
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