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Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace - Photo Optique Video du CSG - S. MartinAriane 5 opens the year with dual-payload launch SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: February 6, 2014 Dual payloads to broadcast television and broadband signals for Asia Broadcast Satellite and French and Italian security forces rocketed into orbit on an Ariane 5 rocket Thursday on Arianespace's landmark 250th launch. The Ariane 5 rocket reaches the ELA-3 launch pad Wednesday. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace - Optique Video du CSG - S. MartinThe fiery evening liftoff from the frontier of the Amazon jungle began a half-hour ascent, with the Ariane 5's twin solid rocket boosters expending more than a million pounds of pre-packed powder propellant, and the launcher's hydrogen-fueled first and second stages thrusting toward an orbit reaching as high as 22,330 miles above Earth.The launch occurred at 2130 GMT (4:30 p.m. EST), one hour later than planned as ground teams waited for stormy weather to pass over the space base in Kourou, French Guiana.The delay broke a nearly three-year streak without any countdown holds after the launch team had fueled an Ariane 5 rocket.Stephàne Isral, Arianespace's chairman and CEO, hailed the launch as a success in remarks to VIPs inside the Guiana Space Center's Jupiter control center.The flight marked the 58th consecutive success for the Ariane 5 rocket dating back to 2003.The 166-foot-tall launcher raced through clouds hanging over the French Guiana space center, quickly disappearing from the views of spectators on the ground.But one observer with a uniquely high vantage point, NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, saw the rocket streak into orbit from the International Space Station. Mastracchio posted a photo of the launch on his Twitter account."My satisfaction is all the greater that tonight's mission is the very symbol of Arianespace's dual raison d'tre," Isral said. "Arianespace provides Europe with a guaranteed and independent access to space, while at the same time it delivers high-quality launch services to commercial satellite operators worldwide." The Ariane 5 launch as viewed from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Rick MastracchioAt the top of the tandem payload stack for Thursday's launch was the 13,955-pound ABS 2 spacecraft for Hong Kong-based Asia Broadcast Satellite. Built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., the powerful telecom platform will beam direct-to-home television, multimedia and data transmission services across the Eastern Hemisphere, reaching a geographic swath from Europe and Africa, across the Middle East, Russia and India, to Southeast Asia and China.The commercial ABS 2 satellite is starting a 15-year operational lifetime, but the first leg of the mission will be to boost itself into a circular geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles high. The craft will appear parked over a fixed location along the equator at 75 degrees east longitude.ABS 2 is equipped with 89 transponders in Ku-band, C-band and Ka-band.According to Asia Broadcast Satellite, the spacecraft has 10 beams, with six dedicated to Ku-band television transmissions throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. C-band beams will focus on Africa and Southeast Asia to boost connectivity there, and a single Ka-band beam will serve commercial and military users over the Middle East and North Africa. A view of the ABS 2 spacecraft inside a test chamber. Credit: Space Systems/LoralThe lower passenger for the Ariane 5 rocket was Athena-Fidus, a communications satellite financed by the French and Italian governments to serve military and security forces.Athena-Fidus will complement the Syracuse and Sicral national military communications satellites operated by France and Italy. The countries have embarked on a cost-sharing strategy to jointly develop communications satellites for defense authorities.While other indigenous and NATO military satellites offer the French and Italian governments ultra-secure, jam-resistant communications links, the purpose of Athena-Fidus is to provide broadband services beyond the telephone, fax and Intranet capabilities of the Syracuse and Sicral networks.Focusing on non-strategic communications for users like fire brigades, national police and homeland security officials, Athena-Fidus will support more modern services such as high-speed Internet and video conferencing. Artist's concept of the Athena-Fidus satellite. Credit: Thales Alenia Space"The launch of Athena-Fidus, followed at the end of the year by Sicral 2, is the culmination of the first concrete collaboration in Europe, between Italy and France, for a military and dual space telecom program," said Bertrand Maureau, vice president for telecommunications at Thales Alenia Space, contractor for the Athena-Fidus project along with Telespazio. "This new and highly innovative satellite will naturally pave the way for government broadband contracts. We hope that Thales Alenia Space will be able to offer its experience and expertise to other government customers, whether for its proven dual technology solutions, or to support the development of new partnerships."Featuring EHF and Ka-band transponders, Athena-Fidus will be joined by Sicral 2, another Franco-Italian military communications satellite, scheduled for launch aboard another Ariane 5 rocket in late 2014.The next Ariane 5 launch is scheduled for March 7 with another flight with a pair of communications satellite. Next time the Ariane launcher will haul up the ASTRA 5B and Amazonas 4A telecom birds.Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: .STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 reaches milestone 25th straight launch success BY STEPHEN CLARKSPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: June 12, 2008The Ariane 5 booster rocketed into space from a French Guiana launch pad minutes after sunset Thursday, painting a colorful spectacle in the sky en route to space with a British military communications satellite and a Turkish broadcasting spacecraft. Credit: ArianespaceThe Ariane 5 blasted off at 2205 GMT (6:05 p.m. EDT) Thursday after an 11-minute delay due to an unspecified alarm sounded by range controllers during the final countdown.An earlier launch attempt was halted on May 30 due to a software glitch. Arianespace and contractor engineers spent nearly two weeks studying the problem before clearing the rocket for launch this week.The 166-foot-tall rocket rolled east from the launch pad and flew through a mostly clear sky, climbing into sunlight about one-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. The sun illuminated the smoky exhaust from the rocket's twin solid rocket boosters, producing a blend of pink, red and white colors high above the European-controlled spaceport.Nearly 25 minutes into the mission, the Ariane 5's cryogenic upper stage shut down after reaching an orbit stretching from an altitude of 155 miles to a high point of 22,327 miles. The orbit was inclined two degrees to the equator, according to an Arianespace statement.Separation of the British Skynet 5C military communications satellite occurred on time about 27 minutes after launch. The upper stage deployed the Turksat 3A broadcasting craft a few minutes later, wrapping up the Ariane 5's 25th consecutive successful mission since 2003.The Ariane 5 launched more than 390,000 pounds of payloads to space during the five-year period, including 45 primary passengers and nine piggyback satellites, according to statistics provided by Arianespace.Skynet 5C is bound for geosynchronous orbit, where it will be permanently located along the equator at 17.8 degrees west longitude. The 10,225-pound spacecraft will enter service later this summer after a battery of in-orbit tests, according to project officials.Test engineers will hand control of the satellite over to Paradigm Secure Communications Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS Astrium, the craft's prime contractor. Skynet 5C's mission is expected to last up to 15 years.Paradigm operates the satellite communications system for the U.K. Ministry of Defense under a contract worth $7 billion. Paradigm welcomed the Skynet 5A and Skynet 5B satellites to the fleet during two launchings last year."Astrium Satellites built the three Eurostar 3000 Skynet 5 satellites and delivered them on time, and in fact early in the case of 5B and 5C, to an original schedule that was set eight years ago, so that's a great achievement," said Patrick Wood, Skynet 5 program director at Paradigm."Triple success for us tonight, and I would like to thank the teams for this," Wood said.EADS Astrium affiliates not only built and operate the Skynet 5 system, but Astrium Space Transportation leads contractor teams manufacturing the Ariane 5 rocket."Tonight, these three capabilities were at play to serve our customers, and we are extremely proud of it," Wood said.Skynet 5C carries an X-band communications payload to reach military users throughout a large swath of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Equipped with 24 super-high-frequency and UHF channels, the satellite will serve as an orbital relay station for secure jam-resistant voice, video and digital communications between commanders and troops deployed around the world.The Skynet system is part of an international alliance formed with the communications satellite fleets of the French and Italian militaries. The coalition won a contract in 2004 to deliver secure communications services to NATO through 2019.Skynet satellites have also provided communications services to forces in the Netherlands, Portugal, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, and the United States, according to Paradigm.Turksat 3A is beginning a 15-year mission to broadcast television services into homes across Turkey, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. The 6,856-pound spacecraft will be stationed in geosynchronous orbit at 42 degrees east longitude.Engineers could finish testing and declare Turksat 3A operational in a few weeks, said Jean-Marie Robert, head of telecommunications satellite programs at Thales Alenia Space, Turksat 3A's builder.The satellite is outfitted with 24 switchable Ku-band transponders to transmit programming between Europe and Asia for Turksat, Turkey's only satellite operator.Turksat 3A will take the place of Turksat 1C, a 12-year-old spacecraft beyond its original life expectancy. The new satellite will reach a larger portion of Asia and the Middle East than its predecessor.Other missions for Turksat 3A include providing multimedia and Internet services to the company's customers."Turksat 3A is a strategic addition to the Turksat fleet since it will expand the operator's scope of services," said Reynald Seznec, president and CEO of Thales Alenia Space.Arianespace's next launch, set for July 4, is just three weeks away. The launch provider is aiming to complete seven Ariane 5 launches this year, with a goal to reach a pace of eight flights per year beginning in 2009. STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rocket achieves success with two satellites SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: April 22, 2011 Bouncing back from a last-second countdown abort in March, an Ariane 5 rocket smoothly ascended into space Friday with communications satellites destined to serve the Middle East and Africa. Liftoff of the Ariane 5 rocket was at 2137 GMT (5:37 p.m. EDT). Credit: ArianespaceThe 165-foot-tall rocket rose away from the launch pad at 2137 GMT (5:37 p.m. EDT) Friday, climbing into partly cloudy skies over the French-controlled Guiana Space Center on the northeast coast of South America.Powered by twin solid rocket boosters and a hydrogen-fueled main engine, the Ariane 5 surpassed the speed of sound in 42 seconds. After shedding the solid motors, the rocket's core stage accelerated to a velocity of more than 15,400 mph and an altitude of 104 miles in the first 9 minutes of flight.A cryogenic upper stage next fired for more than 16 minutes before releasing the Yahsat 1A and Intelsat New Dawn satellites. The rocket was targeting a geosynchronous transfer orbit with a low point of 155 miles, a high point of more than 22,200 miles and an inclination angle of 6 degrees.Arianespace, the commercial operator of the Ariane 5 rocket, declared the mission a success.Controllers established radio contact with both payloads in the minutes following spacecraft separation.It was the second mission of the year for Arianespace, following the flawless launch in February of the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle, a robotic resupply craft for the International Space Station.Friday's launch, the 201st flight of an Ariane vehicle, was delayed from March 30 after a last-second cutoff of the countdown. The Ariane 5's computer ordered an abort when it detected an engine actuator out of position just after the Vulcain 2 engine started firing. The launch occurred around sunset. Credit: ArianespaceThe Ariane 5 rocket starts its main engine about seven seconds before liftoff to give computers an opportunity to gauge the launcher's health. Once the rocket's solid-fueled boosters light, the vehicle is committed to flight.Officials rolled the 16-story rocket back to its final assembly building in early April, replaced several actuators, and returned the launcher back to the pad Thursday.The rocket first deployed the Yahsat 1A satellite, followed more than 7 minutes later by the separation of Intelsat New Dawn.The high-powered Yahsat 1A satellite will be located in geosynchronous orbit along the equator at 52.5 degrees east longitude, putting the craft in range of communications customers across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Southwest Asia.Operated by Al Yah Satellite Communications Co. of Abu Dhabi, Yahsat 1A will provide direct-to-home television programming, secure Ka-band communications capacity for government and military applications in the United Arab Emirates and other nations. Yahsat 1A will also support communications links for corporate data networks and Internet trunking, according to the satellite operator.Weighing 13,150 pounds at launch, Yahsat 1A is based on the Eurostar E3000 satellite bus from Astrium. Thales Alenia Space of France built Yahsat 1A's Ku-band, C-band and Ka-band communications payload."Yahsat is a hybrid satellite system that provides commercial and government satellite services in the Middle East, Africa and Southwest Asia," said Jassem Mohamed Al Zaabi, CEO of Yahsat. Yahsat 1A is designed to work in space for more than 15 years. Artist's concept of the Yahsat 1A spacecraft. Credit: Astrium"The launch is probably one of the most important milestones in our project," Al Zaabi said. "This is when our project becomes operational. This is when we start fulfilling the requirements of our clients -- military and commercial clients. So it's definitely one of the most important phases of our project."Yahsat 1A is the first of two identical satellites. Yahsat 1B is scheduled to launch on a Proton rocket later this year."Yahsat 1A is the first of two start-of-the-art dual-mission satellites," said Reynald Seznec, CEO of Thales Alenia Space. "Its advanced design means it can handle new technologies and offer the most effective solutions. It is the fruit of winning partnerships between Yahsat, the UAE armed forces, our colleagues at Astrium and ourselves, Thales Alenia Space and Thales."Intelsat New Dawn rode in the lower position during the Ariane 5's ascent into orbit. Once Yahsat 1A deployed, the rocket jettisoned a Sylda dual-payload adapter to make way for the Intelsat satellite's release.The $250 million satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corp. and is based on that firm's Star 2 platform.The 6,600-pound spacecraft will link Africa, Western Europe, the Middle East and Pakistan through Ku-band and C-band transponders and antennas. Intelsat New Dawn is geared for wireless broadband, television and other media applications."The satellite will not only deliver crucial services specifically tailored for Africa, it will also herald the dawn of a new era where Africans enjoy far greater involvement in the space communications industry," said Andile Ngcaba, chairman of Convergence Partners, leader of the South African investment group that paid for the satellite. Artist's concept of the Intelsat New Dawn spacecraft. Credit: IntelsatIntelsat New Dawn is one of four satellites Intelsat is launching between 2010 and 2012 to bolster the company's presence in Africa."Intelsat and the African continent share a 40-year history in the development of Africa's telecommunications infrastructure," said Dave McGlade, CEO of Intelsat. "Intelsat New Dawn will be integrated with the resilient Intelsat fleet, allowing us to expand and enhance the vital communications services that are provided by our customers to business consumers throughout Africa."Intelsat New Dawn will be parked at 32.8 degrees east longitude, where it will operate for more than 15 years.The next Ariane 5 launch is slated for May 19 with the ST 2 and GSAT 8 communications satellites to serve Southeast Asia and India.STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rocket assembled for launch SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: May 19, 2011 An Ariane 5 rocket is scheduled to blast off Friday with two satellites to provide direct television broadcasting and navigation services. Liftoff is set for 2038 GMT (4:38 p.m. EDT) from Kourou, French Guiana.The ST 2 communications satellite will ride in the Ariane 5 rocket's upper position. Once in its final orbit, ST 2 will provide Internet and television programming for broadcasters and maritime operators in Asia and the Middle East.Bolted in the lower part of the rocket's payload fairing, GSAT 8 carries communications transponders and a navigation instrument for the Indian Space Research Organization.These images show the assembly of the Ariane 5 rocket over the last three months, culminating in the rollout of the 16-story booster to the launch pad Thursday.Photo credit: ESA/CNES/ArianespaceSTS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rocket goes up for the fifth time this year BY STEPHEN CLARKSPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: August 14, 2008Europe'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 Ariane 5 rocket launches from the jungles of Kourou with a pair of American and Japanese satellites aboard. Credit: ArianespaceThe 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.John Glenn Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The historic first orbital flight by an American is marked by this commemorative patch for John Glenn and Friendship 7.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is available in our store. Get this piece of history!Celebrate the shuttle programFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This special commemorative patch marks the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rocket hauls up another double payload stack SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: October 29, 2009 For this second time this month, the workhorse Ariane 5 rocket carried out a double satellite deployment mission just like clockwork on Thursday and set the stage to break its record for flights in a single year. Credit: Arianespace The hydrogen-fueled main engine roared to life at the appointed moment of 2000 GMT (4:00 p.m. EDT), followed seven seconds later by ignition of the twin solid rocket boosters to begin thundering out of the Guiana Space Center in Kourou on the northeastern coast of South America.The booster climbed steeply through the late afternoon clouds and headed downrange for a half-hour trek into geosynchronous transfer orbit to deliver the NSS 12 and Thor 6 commercial communications satellites."This latest success confirms that Ariane 5 is the commercial market's only operational launcher capable of simultaneously launching two large direct television broadcast satellites," said Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace. "It also confirms that Arianespace is the only launch services company capable of orbiting four commercial satellites in four weeks - which I also think is a new record."The Ariane achieved a highly elliptical orbit stretching 22,346 miles at its farthest point from Earth and 155 miles at the nearest. The satellites will use their onboard engines to circularize the orbit and reach geostationary slots.Riding atop the dual payload stack was NSS 12, a powerful spacecraft to be operated by SES World Skies to cover most of the Eastern Hemisphere for commercial and government customers stretching from Europe to the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia.The satellite was built to replace the NSS 8 craft destroyed in the catastrophic by a Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket in early 2007."NSS 12 represents a special commitment that our CEO, Robert Bednarek, made on January 30, 2007, when we lost the NSS 8 satellite. Less than three years later, we are here in Kourou to mark the launch of NSS 12," said Scott Sprague, senior vice president of global sales SES World Skies.The company invited some of its customers to the Ariane base to watch the critical and long-awaited launch."It's great to see so many of our customers here today. They are in the audience, they are here to witness its beginning," said Steve Collar, senior vice president for market development, SES World Skies.Manufactured by Space Systems/Loral with a 15-year design life, the 12,400-pound satellite carries 48 Ku-band and 40 C-band transponders.It will be parked in geostationary orbit over the equator at 57 degrees East longitude to take the place of the aging NSS 703 satellite, which was launched aboard an Atlas 2AS rocket from Cape Canaveral in 1994."NSS 12 will be going to a really important slot for SES World Skies," Collar said. "It will be replacing NSS 703, which has been a really key satellite for us. But NSS 12 provides substantial expansion from that orbital slot."Sharing the ride to orbit aboard the Ariane 5 rocket Thursday was Thor 6, a communications satellite to serve the Nordic countries by operator Telenor Satellite Broadcasting.The satellite will replace the Thor 3 spacecraft launched aboard a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral in 1998.Built by Thales Alenia Space and weighing 6,725 pounds at launch, Thor 6 is bound for a geostationary orbital slot at 1 degree West longitude."Thor 6 will be very important for our business as it will be the largest satellite in the Thor fleet with its 36 transponders. So Thor 6 will have nearly three times as many transponders as Thor 3 satellite has, which it is set to replace," said Peter Olsen, satellite mission director from Telenor."Not only will Thor 6 provide this replacement capacity, it also provides additional capacity and capability to expand into the Central and Eastern European market and also will enable the ongoing transition from standard definition to high definition television."For Arianespace, the launch Thursday represented the 48th flight for the Ariane 5 and the sixth in 2009. A record-setting seventh mission of the year is scheduled for early December to haul the French military reconnaissance satellite Helios 2B into orbit."We set the goal of increasing our launch rate, and are on track to meet this challenge," Le Gall said Thursday. "Whenever you take up a challenge, there are people who doubt. Being able to win over these doubters is great satisfaction."STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rocket launches double science payload SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: May 14, 2009An Ariane 5 launcher rocketed through blue skies and into space Thursday with two European telescopes designed to give scientists unprecedented views of star birth and the relic light from the Big Bang. The Ariane 5 rocket with Herschel and Planck blasts off. Credit: ESAThe bullet-shaped rocket, powered by a hydrogen-burning main engine andtwin solid rocket boosters, lifted off at 1312 GMT (9:12 a.m. EDT) fromthe European-run spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.The 166-foot-tall vehicle roared through mostly sunny skies during therare morning launch from Kourou, which usually hosts evening flightsleaving on commercial satellite delivery missions.The Ariane 5 flew out of sight, shedding its boosters, nose cone and firststage in the first 10 minutes of the launch. The rocket's cryogenic upperstage fired for more than 15 minutes, pushing Europe's Herschel and Planckobservatories into an unusually high-altitude orbit to reach their postsin deep space.Both spacecraft were deployed less than 29 minutes after liftoff,completing the more than $2 billion launch.Ground stations in Australia acquired the first signals from Herschel andPlanck at 1349 GMT (9:49 a.m. EDT), confirming they survived the trip tospace."They were released and the satellites are acquired," said ThomasPassvogel, project manager at the European Space Agency.Controllers at the European Space Operations Center in Germany arechecking the health of both satellites, but early indications areeverything is working as expected, officials said."The excitement is enormous," Passvogel said.The Ariane 5 was shooting for an orbit stretching nearly 1.2 millionkilometers, or 741,682 miles, into space. Officials did not have numberson the actual orbit the rocket achieved Thursday morning, but Jean-Yves LeGall, Arianespace chairman and CEO, called the launch "perfect.""Herschel and Planck have just hit the trajectory that will put them ontrack to reach the second Lagrange point, L2, and it's a big pleasure toshare this success with you," Le Gall said to guests at the launch site.The mission marked the 30th straight success for the Ariane 5. It was thesecond of up to seven launches of the heavy-lifter this year.The L2 point is located 1.5 million kilometers, or about 932,000 miles,from the night side of Earth, where gravity from the planet and the sunbalance to create a stable location for spacecraft studying the cosmos.Spacecraft stationed at L2 are far enough away from Earth, the sun and themoon to be free of light interference, but close enough to rapidlycommunicate data to ground stations.Controllers are planning small maneuvers for both spacecraft Friday ifthey need to make minor corrections on their path toward L2. Another roundof thruster firings are on tap Sunday.Planck will have to complete at least two extra maneuvers on June 6 andJuly 3 to alter its trajectory toward L2. Planck will enter a loopingorbit at L2 with an average amplitude of about 250,000 miles.Herschel is already on track for its larger targeted orbit at L2.Both observatories should be at L2 by the end of July."In 10 weeks, the satellites will be fully commissioned and ready to gofor the scientists," Passvogel said.Commissioning will begin Saturday for Herschel and on Monday for Planck.Thursday's launch was the end of three decades of work defining, designingand building the Herschel telescope. Planck development began in 1994."This dual launch is the crowning of some 20 years of hard work for thescientists who imagined these missions, the engineers who designed thesesatellites, the firms that built them and the ESA staff who coordinatedall these efforts," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA's director general."Herschel and Planck are the most complex science satellites ever built inEurope," Dordain said. "They were developed by an industrial team led byThales Alenia Space France and comprising more than 100 contractors from15 countries in Europe and the United States."Dordain also addressed the scientists that will use the telescopes."You scientists are excused. You are to make progress. It's yours now,"Dordain said.Scientists from across Europe, the United States, Canada, Russia, Chinaand Taiwan are participating in the missions."Now the real science will start," Passvogel said. "It's still work butthis is another kind of work because now you have a machine you can pointat something and do something with and observe something with."Herschel to study cold, invisible universeEurope's Herschel observatory, a massive spacecraft more than two decadesin the making, will give scientists their best look yet into how new starsand galaxies form and evolve through billions of years. An artist's concept of the Herschel spacecraft. Credit: ESAHerschel is the largest telescope ever launched into space, carrying asilicon carbide mirror spanning 3.5 meters, or about 11.5 feet.The 7,500-pound spacecraft is shaped like a tube, standing nearly 25 feettall with a diameter of nearly 15 feet. It is named for William Herschel,the German-born British astronomer who discovered Uranus and infraredradiation.The telescope's three instruments will look into far infrared lightwavelengths never before studied, allowing the sensors to see through dustclouds and deep into star-forming regions across the Milky Way and othergalaxies."I like to say that if you want to understand the life of a star you makea comparison with the lives of people," said Goran Pilbratt, Herschel'sproject scientist at the European Space Agency.Observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope that detect visible lightcan see "adult" stars and most infrared instruments can take pictures of"child" stars, Pilbratt said.But Herschel will be able to see much more, thanks to a suite of high-techdetectors and a perfectly-crafted primary mirror spanning three-and-a-halfmeters, or about 11.5 feet, in diameter."We're going to see the embryos, the ones that are not born yet. We'regoing to see right into the wombs where stars are born," Pilbratt said.Stars form inside relatively cool clouds of dust and gas that hide stellarincubation from normal telescopes designed to magnify what could be seenby the human eye."The birth of new stars takes place in these very optically opaque cloudsof dust and gas," said Paul Goldsmith, NASA's Herschel project scientist.Infrared telescopes like Herschel can see through the enshrouding cloudsto see condensing gas and dust before stars can flicker to life."That's what I think is going to be most exciting, to really be able toget this almost unblocked, highly detailed view of what's going on insidethese clouds," Goldsmith said.Herschel is sensitive enough to even see star formation in other galaxies.Another objective of the mission is to take a census of forming stars inour galactic neighborhood.The observatory will look far back in time to study how galaxies formedand evolved up to 10 billion years ago, during the first three billionyears after the Big Bang."Galaxies evolve by the formation of new stars, especially massive starsthat then die and explode as supernovae and enrich galaxies with heavyelements. They put so much energy out that they really dominate thestructures of these galaxies," Goldsmith said.Scientists will also focus Herschel's telescope on debris clouds aroundother stars to learn more about how planetary systems form.Closer to home, Herschel will help astronomers create highly-detailedchemical maps of objects in the solar system. The observatory will usespectrometers to probe the composition of comets, which scientists believeharbor the frozen building blocks of the solar system."With Herschel, we can resume the pioneering work undertaken with ISO,ESA's first infrared space observatory operating in the second half of the90s, and we are building upon the experience gained to date by the worldwide scientific community in the field of infrared astronomy," said DavidSouthwood, ESA's director of science and robotic exploration.ISO, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope,and the Japanese Akari observatory preceded Herschel in infraredastronomy.Earth's atmosphere blocks infrared light from space, meaning scientistsmust launch instruments on spacecraft to observe the universe in infraredwavelengths.Herschel will launch with 2,300 liters, or about 607 gallons, of cryogenicliquid helium to chill the telescope's coldest detector to a temperatureof 0.3 Kelvin, or below -459 degrees Fahrenheit. The helium is projectedto last about four years.The detectors must be subjected to such frigid conditions to see faintemissions of cold objects scattered in the distant universe. Herschel willdetect light from material as cold as -441 degrees Fahrenheit.NASA contributed critical detecting equipment, electronics and other keytechnologies to two of Herschel's three instruments, boosting theirobserving capability.A NASA Herschel Science Center has also been established at the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology's Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, whichalso oversees data gathered by Spitzer.NASA's contributions are valued at $272 million, including spacecrafthardware and operational costs, according to an agency spokesperson.The total cost of the Herschel mission is quoted at 1 billion euros, ornearly $1.3 billion in current exchange rates. That number equates toabout 1 million euros for each day of Herschel's three-year primarymission, Pilbratt said.Herschel's science mission can begin as soon as controllers finish testingthe observatory's instruments and open the door covering the cryostat,allowing the instruments to cool down to operating temperatures.Planck to take a baby picture of the universePlanck will act as a cosmic time machine to give humans a look at theuniverse as it appeared less than 400,000 years after the Big Bang. An artist's concept of the Planck spacecraft. Credit: ESAThe 600 million euro, or $820 million, mission will sharpen cosmologists'understanding of how the early universe transformed from a ball of densehot gas to the formation of complex structures like galaxies and stars."Cosmology is the science that deals with the structure and the contentsof the universe," said Jan Tauber, the mission's project scientist at theEuropean Space Agency. "Planck is quite important for (everyone) who isinterested in the universe that we live in."The Planck observatory will observe the cosmic microwave backgroundradiation left over about 380,000 years after the Big Bang. The CMB isconsidered the first light from the young universe after matter and lightcould exist independently as the universe cooled."Planck is going to take a picture of the universe when it was veryyoung," Tauber said.Scientists estimate the universe is about 13.7 billion years old andformed when a compressed ball of hot matter exploded outward in anunimaginably intense event called the Big Bang."It's like looking at the first day in the life of a human being," Taubersaid.The 4,235-pound spacecraft stands 13.8 feet tall and also has a diameterof about 13.8 feet.The mission was named for Max Planck, a German physicist that establishedthe quantum theory, which revolutioned scientists' understanding of atomicand subatomic processes.Planck carries pressurized helium to cool the telescope's two instrumentsto temperatures approaching absolute zero.The instruments must be cold enough to sense warmth from the cosmicmicrowave background in the furthest reaches of the universe, whichaverages about 2.7 Kelvin, or -455 degrees Fahrenheit.Planck will measure subtle differences in the CMB across the entire sky."The signals we are trying to detect are variations about a millionth ofthe average (CMB) temperature," Tauber said."The cosmic microwave background shows us the universe directly at age400,000 years, not the movie, not the historical novel, but the originalphotons," said Charles Lawrence, Planck project scientist at NASA.NASA spent $117 million on Planck, providing amplifier and detectortechnologies and part of the observatory's cooling system.Officials say Planck will measure the CMB up to the limits of fundamentalastrophysics, obtaining as much information as can possibly be learned bystudying the primordial radiation, according to ESA."With Planck, we are pushing the boundaries of our knowledge to the verylimits of what can be observed according to theory," Southwood said. "Itis a tremendous technical challenge but helping to bring about a greatleap forward in our understanding of the origin and perhaps the fate ofour Universe will be a tremendous reward.""Planck is trying to measure a signal that would be comparable tomeasuring from Earth the natural heat emission of a small animal like arabbit that would be placed on the moon," Tauber said.Although Planck will be gathering incoming light at very low temperatures,the CMB had a temperature of nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit when thelight was emitted.The energy cooled and stretched to longer wavelengths over time becausethe universe is expanding, according to scientists.Planck will collect the light through a mirror with a diameter of 1.5meters, or about 5 feet.The observatory will map the CMB with higher fidelity than its twopredecessors, NASA's COBE and WMAP missions."Planck will give us the clearest view ever of this baby universe, showingus the results of physical processes in the first brief moments after theBig Bang, and the starting point for the formation of stars, galaxies andclusters of galaxies," Lawrence said.Officials expect Planck will begin scanning the sky about three monthsafter launch. Plans call for the observatory to complete at least twoall-sky maps by the end of the mission, which is currently expected aroundthe end of 2010.It may be three or four years before the Planck team is ready to presentthe mission's results, Tauber said.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Project OrionThe Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Spaceflight Now +Subscribe to Spaceflight Now Plus for access to our extensive video collections!Introduction to ATVPreview the maiden voyage of European's first Automated Transfer Vehicle, named Jules Verne. The craft will deliver cargo to the International Space Station.Launching on the shuttleVideo cameras on the boosters and tank, plus a cockpit camera show what the shuttle and its astronauts experience during the trek to space. STS-120: In reviewThe STS-120 crew narrates highlights from its mission that delivered the station's Harmony module and moved the P6 power truss.Ariane 5 rocket powers African satellites to orbit SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: August 4, 2010 Europe's Ariane 5 rocket accomplished its third commercial mission of the year Wednesday, delivering to orbit two African communications satellites to broadcast television programming and boost connectivity with rural villages. The Ariane 5 rocket launched at 2059 GMT (4:59 p.m. EDT) Wednesday. Credit: ArianespaceThe 166-foot-tall launcher took off at 2059 GMT (4:59 p.m. EDT) and soared into partly cloudy skies over the French-run space base in Kourou, French Guiana. After turning east from the South American coast, the Ariane 5 rocketed into the upper atmosphere and shed its twin solid rocket boosters about 2 minutes, 15 seconds after liftoff.The rocket's hydrogen-fueled first stage consumed its propellant in 9 minutes and gave way to a cryogenic upper stage that ignited a few seconds later.The second stage burned for nearly 16 minutes, completing a high-speed transit of the Atlantic Ocean before deploying its two payloads in view of ground stations in Gabon and Kenya.Nilesat 201 separated just shy of the flight's 29-minute mark, followed by the jettison of the Ariane's Sylda dual-payload adapter less than 2 minutes later. The second stage released Rascom-QAF 1R less than 33 minutes after launch.Both satellites were dropped off in an elliptical transfer orbit stretching from 154 miles to a peak altitude of 22,322 miles. The orbital inclination was 2 degrees."It is the 38th success in a row for Ariane 5, and since the beginning of 2010, we have launched six major telecommunications satellite, which is more than all of our competitors together," said Jean-Yves Le Gall, Arianespace's chairman and CEO.Each spacecraft is beginning several weeks of orbit-raising engine firings, critical deployments, and testing before they are handed over to operators in September. Both satellites were built by Thales Alenia Space of France.Nilesat 201 will enter service at 7 degrees west longitude, joining two other Nilesat spacecraft and a European-owned satellite to provide direct-to-home television, radio and broadband Internet services to Africa and the Middle East. Artist's concept of Nilesat 201 in orbit. Credit: Thales Alenia Space"It will play an important role in the dynamic broadcasting and emerging global markets in the Middle East and North Africa," said Reynald Seznec, CEO of Thales Alenia Space. "It is fitted with powerful state-of-the-art Ku-band and cutting edge Ka-band technology."The satellite carries 24 Ku-band and four Ka-band transponders for Nilesat, Egypt's state-controlled telecommunications company."I would like to congratulate the team of Nilesat for the successful launch of Ariane 5 and Nilesat 201," said Anas El Feky, Egypt's information minister. "We are truly proud of what you achieved tonight. It's a great achievement for the Egyptian media and added value to the Nilesat company, which has been very successful in our region."Rascom-QAF 1R was ordered to replace a nearly identical satellite crippled by a helium leak after launch in 2007. The glitch forced the first Rascom-QAF satellite to burn more propellant than expected, reducing its useful life from 15 years to two or three years."Two-and-a-half years ago, we were just witnessing the launch of the first satellite," said Faraj Elamari, CEO of RascomStar-QAF, an African satellite company. "Well, we had to do it twice. It look a lot of determination and our motivation hasn't changed."RascomStar-QAF was founded by a consortium of African and European investors, including Thales Alenia Space, a Libya-based investment fund, and RASCOM, a satellite communications organization with members in 45 African nations."This is a big day before us because we have been on the journey for the Rascom project right from the start as one of the shareholders and also as prime (contractor) for the satellite," Seznec said. Artist's concept of Rascom-QAF 1R in orbit. Credit: Thales Alenia SpaceRascom-QAF 1R will be stationed at 2.85 degrees east longitude with 12 C-band and eight Ku-band transponders, beaming television, telephone and Internet services across Africa."Thanks to Rascom-QAF 1R and its associated ground equipment, Africa will be able to benefit from communications in rural areas at an affordable cost, communications between regional capitals and cities, and between cities and villages," Elamari said.According to Elamari, Rascom-QAF 1R will help connect up to 150,000 rural villages to communications networks.In remarks following Wednesday's mission, Le Gall announced two new contracts for Arianespace. The company will launch the GSAT 10 satellite for India and the Intelsat 20 communications craft covering the Asia-Pacific region.The company has a backlog of 22 Ariane 5 launches and 17 flights of the Soyuz rocket, which will make its first launch from Kourou in December or early 2011.The next Ariane 5 mission is scheduled for Sept. 15 with European and Japanese payloads. Another dual-satellite launch will follow in October or November, and Arianespace will wrap up 2010 with the delivery of an unmanned cargo ship for the International Space Station.STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rocket set for opening launch of 2014 SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: February 5, 2014 Arianespace will kick off the year with a launch for Hong Kong-based Asia Broadcast Satellite and the French and Italian governments, sending a pair of large communications payloads into orbit aboard a heavy-duty Ariane 5 rocket. The Ariane 5 rocket reaches the ELA-3 launch pad Wednesday. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace - Optique Video du CSG - L. MiraThe Ariane 5 launcher left its final assembly building at the Guiana Space Center late Wednesday morning, arriving at the ELA-3 launch pad about an hour later amid scattered rain showers. Rocket technicians were supposed to connect the rocket and its weathered mobile launch platform to ground propellant and electricity supplies Wednesday afternoon.Two communications satellites sit atop the 166-foot-tall rocket: ABS 2 for Asia Broadcast Satellite and Athena-Fidus for the French and Italian governments. They are enclosed inside the launcher's Swiss-built 5.4-meter, or 17.7-foot, diameter ogive-shaped nose shroud.The dual payloads ride on a tandem satellite carrier built to haul two powerful communications satellites in one go. The Ariane 5's lift capacity makes it the only commercial launcher in the world capable of dual-payload launches.ABS 2 is positioned in the upper slot in the fairing. Built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., the spacecraft weighs 13,955 pounds fully fueled at launch.It will propel itself into a circular 22,300-mile-high orbit over the equator at 75 degrees east longitude, deploy solar panels and reflector dish-shaped antennas, and begin a 15-year operational mission beaming telecom services, direct-to-home television, multimedia programming and data link services across a wide swath of the Eastern Hemisphere.Athena-Fidus is encapsulated inside a Sylda payload adapter for launch. The 6,790-pound spacecraft, manufactured by Thales Alenia Space, is a joint project between France and Italy to expand broadband communications services for defense and security authorities beyond the jam-resistant satellites already used by the nations' militaries. The ABS 2 satellite is enclosed inside the Ariane 5 payload fairing. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace - Optique Video du CSG - S. MartinThursday's launch will mark the 72nd flight of an Ariane 5 rocket, and the 217th launch for the Ariane family since 1979. For Arianespace, it will be the 250th mission when including launches of Soyuz and Vega rockets managed by the French-headquartered launch services firm.The countdown was due to begin at 0900 GMT (4 a.m. EST) Thursday, with clocks programmed for liftoff at 2030 GMT (3:30 p.m. EST), or 5:30 p.m. local time at the launch site in French Guiana.The launch window extends for 2 hours and 5 minutes.A check of electrical systems was scheduled to occur around 1300 GMT (8 a.m. EST).Workers will also put finishing touches on the launch pad, including the closure of doors, removal of safety barriers and configuring fluid lines for fueling.The launch team will begin the process to fuel the rocket with super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants at 1540 GMT (10:40 a.m. EST). First, ground reservoirs will be pressurized, then the fuel lines will be chilled down to condition the plumbing for the flow of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which are stored at approximately minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit and minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.It will take approximately two hours to fill the Ariane 5 core stage tanks.A similar procedure for the Ariane 5's cryogenic upper stage will commence at 1640 GMT (11:40 a.m. EST). Technicians lift the Athena-Fidus spacecraft inside a clean room in French Guiana. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace - Optique Video du CSG - P. BaudonChilldown conditioning of the Vulcain 2 first stage engine will occur at 1740 GMT (12:40 p.m. EST), and a communications check between the rocket and ground telemetry, tracking and command systems is scheduled for 1920 GMT (2:20 p.m. EST).The computer-controlled synchronized countdown sequence will begin seven minutes before launch to pressurize propellant tanks, switch to on-board power and take the rocket's guidance system to flight mode.The Vulcain 2 engine will ignite as the countdown clock reaches zero, followed by a health check and ignition of the Ariane 5's solid rocket boosters seven seconds later to send the 1.7 million-pound launcher skyward.Five seconds after blastoff, the rocket will begin pitching east from the ELA-3 launch pad, surpassing the speed of sound less than a minute into the mission. The Ariane 5's twin solid rocket boosters will jettison 2 minutes and 21 seconds after liftoff.Once above the dense atmosphere, the launcher's payload fairing will fall away at an altitude of about 68 miles. The Ariane 5's first stage will shut down 8 minutes, 49 seconds after liftoff, followed moments later by stage separation and ignition of the hydrogen-fueled cryogenic HM7B upper stage engine.The rocket's upper stage will fire for more than 16 minutes, accelerating to a velocity of 20,967 mph, or more than 9.3 kilometers per second, to reach an orbit with a planned high point of 22,326 miles, a targeted low point of 152 miles and an inclination of 6 degrees.The release of ABS 2 is scheduled for 27 minutes, 22 seconds. The rocket's barrel-shaped Sylda 5 dual-payload adapter will be jettisoned a few minutes later.Athena-Fidus will separate from the lower portion of the payload stack at 32 minutes, 32 seconds.Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: .John Glenn Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The historic first orbital flight by an American is marked by this commemorative patch for John Glenn and Friendship 7.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is available in our store. Get this piece of history!Celebrate the shuttle programFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This special commemorative patch marks the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rocket successfully orbits French military craft SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: December 18, 2009 France successfully launched a new spy satellite on Friday during a midday launch from French Guiana, using Europe's trusted Ariane 5 rocket to send the nearly $1 billion payload to orbit. Credit: ArianespaceAfter an uneventful countdown, the Ariane 5's hydrogen-burning Vulcain engine ignited with a flash and two powerful solid rocket boosters lit with a crackling roar at 1626 GMT (11:26 a.m. EST), or 1:26 p.m. local time at the Guiana Space Center on South America's northeast coast.Turning north and speeding through a clear deep blue sky -- rare conditions at the tropical spaceport -- the 151-foot-tall launcher soared into the upper atmosphere, letting go of its twin boosters and payload shroud in the first three minutes.The Vulcain engine continued firing for nearly 10 minutes, before shutting down and giving way to the Aestus engine of the Ariane's storable propellant upper stage.The Aestus burned for more than 16 minutes to inject the Helios 2B satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit about 423 miles high. After an unpowered coast phase, the rocket released the satellite 59 minutes after liftoff over a ground station in Perth, Australia.Helios 2B was the 33rd military satellite launched by an Ariane rocket.Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace, said military Ariane launches "underscore the strategic nature" of the European rocket family."This launch demonstrates the availability and reliability of the Ariane 5," Le Gall said.The mission was delayed from last week due to a leaky helium sphere on the Ariane 5's first stage. Helium is used to pressurize the liquid oxygen tank during flight.Another countdown was scrubbed Thursday due to a technical glitch.The launch marked the seventh Ariane 5 rocket launch of 2009, setting a new record for the workhorse launcher. It was also the 193rd Ariane mission since the European-developed rocket family debuted 30 years ago in December 1979.The Helios 2B satellite was expected to unfurl its solar array about 30 minutes after separation. Plans call for Helios 2B to take its first picture two days after launch. Controllers in France will also guide the craft into place among the Helios satellite constellation."We still start in-flight instrument acceptance testing, which is fairly complicated," said Marc Pircher, director of the Toulouse space center for CNES, the French space agency. "It takes a long time to test an optical instrument."CNES operates the Helios satellites for the French defense ministry. The agency also serves as the formal contracting organization for Helios spacecraft.The post-launch commissioning phase is expected to last about three months, according to the French defense ministry.Helios 2B will do its work from a 435-mile-high orbit taking the spacecraft over almost all of the Earth's surface every day.The spacecraft joins an orbiting fleet of military platforms with optical and infrared imagers to map battlefields, monitor terrorist threats and enforce disarmament and non-proliferation treaties."Images shouted by the satellites provide necessary intelligence data to the French senior authorities and also to the forces deployed on the ground," the French defense ministry's Helios 2B press kit said.Officials said recent French military action in Kosovo, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Chad and Darfur demonstrated the Helios system's value. Artist's concept of the Helios 2B satellite. Credit: CNES The 9,259-pound Helios 2B spacecraft will join two other Helios satellites already in space. Helios 1A was launched in 1995 and Helios 2A arrived in orbit in 2004.The high-resolution camera will provide an ultra-stable platform for high definition and infrared optical images for day and night coverage. French military officials did not specify the camera's resolution.The wide-field instrument is based on the camera aboard the civilian Spot 5 remote sensing satellite. It will collect medium-resolution images across a wide footprint for cartography applications, according to the French defense ministry.EADS Astrium built the spacecraft and medium-resolution instrument."With Helios 2B, Europe has provided a world-class tool for optical observation," said Francois Auque, CEO of EADS Astrium. "Astrium is the prime contractor for the space segment, leading a consortium of 25 companies, and prime contractor for the six-nation user ground segment."Thales Alenia Space produced the high-resolution camera."The launch of a satellite such as Helios 2B is very important for France and its partners because we all benefit from this high-performance system and the continuation from Helios 2A, which has been operating since 2005," said Reynald Seznec, president and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. "We often call the Helios satellites the eyes of our defense systems, and in order to accomplish the very high-resolution instruments needed for these satellites, our teams at Thales Alenia Space have developed expertise which is unique in Europe."France and four European partners fund the pair of Helios 2 satellites. Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece each have a 2.5 percent stake in the nearly $3 billion program.Helios data is utilized by all the program's partners, plus Germany. France receives access to Germany's SAR-Lupe and Italy's COSMO-SkyMed radar satellite constellations.The six nations are attempting to strengthen military space collaboration in a partnership called MUSIS, the Multinational Space-based Imaging System. MUSIS would build a framework for a common military satellite reconnaissance system with optical, infrared and radar capabilities by 2014.France would lead the optical segment of MUSIS, while Germany and Italy would contribute radar satellite systems. Sweden and Poland are also in talks to join the MUSIS alliance.Wednesday's launch comes as France is revamping its military space activities and increasing funding for defense space programs.Helios 2B is managed by the defense ministry's procurment agency, named DGA, which assigned contracting authority for the satellite to the French space agency, CNES.The DGA space budget will be increased from less than $600 million to almost $900 million by 2014. French military space programs include observation, monitoring, communications and early warning projects.A new Space Joint Command will also be established in the defense ministry next July. France is already studying a third-generation Helios system.France also plans to launch the first of two commercial Pleiades observation satellites in late 2010. Pleiades imagery will resolve objects as small as 50 centimeters, or 1.6 feet, for European military and international commercial users.John Glenn Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The historic first orbital flight by an American is marked by this commemorative patch for John Glenn and Friendship 7.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is available in our store. Get this piece of history!Celebrate the shuttle programFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This special commemorative patch marks the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rocket to launch European cargo craft SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: February 15, 2011 The European Space Agency is gearing up to launch an automated cargo freighter Tuesday for the International Space Station, continuing a wave of resupply missions to the orbiting lab from three continents. The Ariane 5 rocket rolled to the launch pad Monday. Credit: Stephane Corvaja/ESAThe Automated Transfer Vehicle, Europe's second such spacecraft, is due for liftoff at 2213:27 GMT (5:13:27 p.m. EST) aboard an Ariane 5 rocket launched from the Guiana Space Center, a French-run spaceport on the northeast coast of South America.The mission has just an instant to get off the ground, a requirement set by the geometry of the space station's orbit and the ATV's ability to reach the outpost.The 165-foot-tall rocket rolled from the space center's assembly building to the ELA-3 launching zone Monday.The Ariane 5 rocket will fly northeast from the Guiana Space Center, jettisoning its powerful solid rocket boosters and accelerating on the thrust of a hydrogen-fueled Vulcain main engine. The rocket's second stage, powered by storable hydrazine fuel, will fire twice to propel the 44,225-pound payload into a circular orbit 161 miles high with an inclination of 51.6 degrees.It will be the 200th flight of an Ariane rocket, Europe's workhorse launcher for communications satellites and large government payloads. It is the second mission of an ATV, an unmanned resupply vehicle the size of a double-decker bus.Named for Johannes Kepler, the famous German astronomer and mathematician, the spacecraft carries 5,929 pounds of dry cargo in its pressurized cabin. The ship will also deliver 220 pounds of breathing oxygen and 1,875 pounds of rocket propellant for the space station's Zvezda service module.Technicians also loaded 14,474 pounds of propellant into the ATV's fuel tanks to guide the 33-foot-long to the space station, then raise the lab's orbit by nearly 25 miles this spring as the outpost prepares for life without the space shuttle.The ATV's cargo load includes gear for NASA. The European Space Agency developed the resupply freighter to help pay for the agency's share of the station's operating costs. Photo of the ATV spacecraft being prepared for launch in Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace - Photo Optique Vid??o du CSG, L.Mira, 2010The ATV will gradually adjust its orbit over the next eight days before its scheduled arrival at the space station Feb. 23.Navigating with GPS satellite data and a futuristic optical laser sensor system, the ship will dock with the station's aft port at 1520 GMT (10:20 a.m. EST) next Thursday. Astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the complex will open its hatch and start unloading crew provisions, supplies and other equipment by hand. The ATV's fuel and oxygen will be transferred through internal plumbing.Plans call for the ATV to remain at the station until about June 4, but the schedule could change. The ATV is certified to stay at the space station for more than six months in a dormant configuration.The ATV mission is occurring amid a flurry of visiting spacecraft at the international outpost. Japan's H-2 Transfer Vehicle, similar in size to the ATV, arrived at the space station Jan. 27. A smaller Russian Progress freighter also docked at the complex last month.The shuttle Discovery will launch Feb. 24, one day after the ATV's docking, to deliver an Italian-built stowage module with more fresh supplies.Once Discovery arrives at the station, all of the program's existing servicing vehicles will be present at the complex. It will be the first and only time a space shuttle will be docked to the station along with Russian, European and Japanese spacecraft.During the ATV's eight-day approach profile, the space station crew plans to unlimber the lab's robot arm and move Japan's HTV craft from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony connecting node to the module's upper berthing location.The move will make room for Discovery, which docks to the forward port of Harmony.John Glenn Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The historic first orbital flight by an American is marked by this commemorative patch for John Glenn and Friendship 7.Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is available in our store. Get this piece of history!Celebrate the shuttle programFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This special commemorative patch marks the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch.Fallen Heroes Patch CollectionThe official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rocket trucks four spacecraft into orbit SPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: February 12, 2009Beginning another busy year of transporting satellites from Earth to space, the commercial Ariane 5 rocket successfully launched two communications spacecraft and a pair of military payloads this evening. Credit: ArianespaceThundering out of its South American launch base at 2209 GMT (5:09 p.m. EST), the heavy-lift booster turned east and set sail on a half-hour ascent to its appointed geosynchronous transfer orbit.Continuing its string of consecutive successes over the past six years, the rocket first deployed Hot Bird 10, a powerful new direct-to-home TV satellite for Europe, then released the NSS 9 telecommunications spacecraft to bridge the Pacific and later ejected two missile-warning micro-sats for the French military."I'm absolutely delighted to be able to share with you this new success," said Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace. "This success goes to show that Ariane 5 ECA, which is a combination of power and dependability, is capable of 29 successful launches in a row."Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat plans to temporarily park Hot Bird 10 in geostationary orbit at 7 degrees West longitude where it will replace the decade-old Atlantic Bird 4 spacecraft for broadcasting TV programs to the Middle East. An artist's concept of Hot Bird 10. Credit: EADS AstriumEventually, Hot Bird 10 will be moved to its intended position at 13 degrees East longitude, joining identical sister-satellites Hot Birds 8 and 9 to beam nearly 1,100 television channels and 600 radio stations to 120 million homes across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The advanced spacecraft have increased the number of digital and high-definition TV offerings."Hot Bird 10 is being launched well before the start of its commercial mission at 13 degrees East, and that's why we decided that in the meantime it will contribute to our expansion into immerging orbital slots for television distribution," said Raphael Mussalian, the satellite's mission director. Built by EADS Astrium using the Eurostar E3000 platform, Hot Bird 10 is equipped with 64 Ku-band transponders for relaying transmissions directly to small dishes at users' homes. Once Hot Bird 10 enters service at 13 degrees East in about 18 months, it will free up the Hot Bird 6 spacecraft for future redeployment elsewhere in Eutelsat's expansive constellation.The new NSS 9 satellite will operate 22,300 miles above the equatorial Pacific Ocean at 177 degrees West longitude to connect communications between Asia and North America for government, commercial and maritime customers."From this location, New Skies 9 will provide connectivity between all of the major Pacific Rim locations, as well as the west coast of the United States," said Robert Bednarek, president and CEO of SES New Skies and SES AMERICOM. Credit: Orbital SciencesThe all C-band spacecraft will support telecommunications services with beams covering Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, China, Korea and the Pacific Islands, plus Hawaii and the U.S. mainland."New Skies 9 will be well positioned to serve customers in the government, telecom and media sectors supporting applications as diverse as voice, internet trunking, video distribution, along with a range of other communications services," Bednarek said.Operator SES New Skies of The Hague, The Netherlands bought the new craft, which is built around a smaller satellite design, from Orbital Sciences to replace its NSS 5 bird that was launched more than 11 years ago."New Skies 9 is the first satellite in a series of three to be launched in 2009 as part of a significant fleet expansion program designed to extend our current services and bring additional capacity for the growth of our customers throughout the world," Bednarek added.Hitching a ride into space with Hot Bird 10 and NSS 9 were the tiny SPIRALE micro-satellites for the French military.These two trailblazer craft, known as SPIRALE A and SPIRALE B, will test a space-based optical early warning system to detect enemy missile launches. The name comes from the French acronym for "Preparatory System for IR Early Warning."Flying in a highly elliptical orbit of 22,300 by 375 miles, the cube-shaped micro-sats will take infrared imagery to spot ballistic missiles during their boost phase of flight. A future operational program could serve security and proliferation monitoring roles."With the early warning system, France is taking a major step forward enabling it to assess, as a sovereign state, the nature and reality of ballistic threats and possible attacks," said Patrick Auroy of the French Defense Procurement Agency. The two SPIRALE satellites are pictured here in pre-launch cleanroom. Credit: ArianespaceToday's launch of the workhorse Ariane 5 was the rocket's first of perhaps six to eight missions in 2009. Next up will be Arianespace Flight 188 on April 16 to dispatch a pair of scientific spacecraft for the European Space Agency. The Herschel infrared space telescope will probe the formation of stars and galaxies and the Planck observatory will look for the leftover radiation from the Big Bang that started the Universe.Both satellites were headed to the Ariane launch base this week to begin final pre-flight preparations.STS-134 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!Final Shuttle Mission PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.STS-133 PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!The final planned flight of space shuttle Discovery is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-133. Available in our store!Anniversary Shuttle PatchFree shipping to U.S. addresses!This embroidered patch commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program. The design features the space shuttle Columbia's historic maiden flight of April 12, 1981.Mercury anniversaryFree shipping to U.S. addresses!Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Shephard's historic Mercury mission with this collectors' item, the official commemorative embroidered patch. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Ariane 5 rolls out on eve of launchSPACEFLIGHT NOWPosted: February 5, 2014 Towed along dual rail tracks, an Ariane 5 rocket moved from an assembly building to the launch pad in French Guiana on Wednesday for the European booster's first flight of the year.Two communications satellites sit atop the 166-foot-tall rocket: ABS 2 for Asia Broadcast Satellite and Athena-Fidus for the French and Italian governments.Liftoff of the Ariane 5 is set for 2030 GMT (3:30 p.m. EST) at the opening of window lasting 2 hours, 5 minutes. It will mark the first launch of the year from the European-run Guiana Space Center, a rocket base on the northern coast of South America.It will take about a half-hour to deliver the ABS 2 and Athena-Fidus payloads into geostationary transfer orbit.See our for the latest news on the launch.