Europe's workhorse Ariane 5 rocket took off from a South
American space base Thursday on its third launch in barely two months, this
time with Japanese and U.S. television broadcasting satellites.
The rare daytime launch occurred at 2044 GMT (4:44 p.m. EDT)
from the Guiana
Space Center along the northeast coast of South America.
Officials were greeted with "Chamber of Commerce"
weather at the launch site, and the rocket darted through a clear blue sky
before shedding its two solid rocket booster casings and disappearing from
view.
The Ariane 5's cryogenic first and second stages propelled
the mission's payloads into an elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit
stretching from a low point of 155 miles to a high point of about 22,277 miles.
The orbital inclination was targeted for two degrees, slightly lower than
typical Ariane transfer orbits to reduce payload fuel consumption, according to
Arianespace.
The rocket unleashed the 10,626-pound Japanese Superbird 7
satellite about 26 minutes after liftoff. After jettisoning a dual payload
adapter, the stage released the smaller AMC 21 to complete the Ariane 5's fifth
mission of the year.
"I think it is a perfect illustration of the fact that
high performance, reliability and increase of pace can go hand-in-hand,"
said Jean-Yves Le Gall, Arianespace chairman and CEO.
Le Gall said Thursday's flight was the ninth for the Ariane
5 in the past 12 months. Two more launches are planned in October and December
to complete the year.
"I feel a great sense of relief now that it's off the
ground and we got both satellites separated," said Rick Starkovs, vice
president and general manager of space systems and operations for SES
Engineering, a unit of AMC 21's operating company.
AMC 21 will enter service next month to begin a mission
projected to last up to 15 years. The satellite will introduce Ku-band
communications coverage to a new SES
AMERICOM operating base at 125 degrees west longitude in geosynchronous
orbit.
The spacecraft carries 24 active Ku-band transponders and
two reflector antennas to beam television broadcasts across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. AMC 21 will be the new home of the
Public Broadcasting Service, in addition to other networks, according to
satellite officials.
The AMC 21 communications payload was built by Thales Alenia
Space. Orbital Sciences Corp. provided the satellite's Star 2 bus in a contract
with Thales, also the craft's prime contractor.
AMC 21 joins 15 other satellites in SES AMERICOM's fleet
covering the Americas.
"We're adding more besides this one," said Dennis
Huyler, AMC 21 launch program manager for SES Engineering. "We have two
more launches later this year and a few more next year."
Superbird 7 will next boost itself to a circular
geosynchronous orbit along the equator at 144 degrees east longitude. The
satellite will begin operational service for Space Communications Corp. of Japan after about two months of testing.
The spacecraft will be renamed Superbird C2 at the beginning
of its 15-year lifetime.
Superbird 7 will replace Superbird C, an 11-year-old
satellite nearing the end of its design life. The new craft includes 28 Ku-band
transponders to provide broadband Internet connections and high-definition
cable and direct television broadcasts to customers in Japan, East Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
Superbird 7 is the first satellite to be launched by a Japanese
operator since the country's three leading satellite communications companies
- Sky Perfect Communications, JSAT Corp. and SCC - merged to form Sky Perfect
JSAT Corp.
"The success of the Superbird 7 launch is very
important for the new integrated company as a basis to accelerate the growth of
global satellite communications (in Japan)," said Yukata Nagai, SCC
president and CEO.
Based on the DS 2000 platform by Mitsubishi Electric Corp.,
Superbird 7 is the first Japanese-owned commercial satellite to be manufactured
by a Japanese contractor. Earlier satellites for Japanese operators were built
by U.S. companies, officials said.
"I hope such made-in-Japan satellites will be more
widely accepted in the world satellite market from this success on," Nagai
said.
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