Ariane flight VA243

Ariane flight VA243 is an Ariane 5 space launch of two geostationary satellites that occurred on 25 September 2018 at 22:38:00 UTC from the Guiana Space Centre. It was the 100th launch of Ariane 5 (the 4th in 2018), and the 300th Arianespace mission (the 6th in 2018).

Ariane flight VA243
Official poster for the flight
Ariane 5 ECA launch
Launch25 September 2018 (2018-09-25), 22:38:00 UTC
OperatorArianespace
PadKourou ELA-3
Payload
OutcomeSuccess
Components
Serial no.5103
Ariane launches

Payload

The launcher was carrying 2 geostationary telecommunications satellites, with a total payload mass of approximately 10,827 kilograms (23,869 lb). The satellites were accommodated inside the long version of the upper stage fairing on the SYLDA adapter.[1]

Horizons-3e
Main article: Horizons-3e

Horizons-3e, also known as IS-H3e, was built in the United States by Boeing for Horizons Satellite, a joint venture of Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT. It had a liftoff mass of about 6,441 kilograms (14,200 lb) and will be operated from the 169° East position.

It is Boeing's 56th, Intelsat's 60th and SKY Perfect JSAT's 20th spacecraft to be launched by Arianespace.[1][2]

Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38
Main article: Azerspace-2

Azerspace-2, also known as Intelsat 38, was built by SSL in the United States for Azercosmos and Intelsat. It had a liftoff mass of about 3,500 kilograms (7,700 lb).[1]

Azerbaijan’s 2nd geostationary satellite will be expanding Azerspace-1's capacity while replacing Intelsat 12 from the 45° East position. It is SSL's 65th and Intelsat's 61st spacecraft to be launched by Arianespace.[2]

Mission description

Launch date

The 6th Arianespace launch of 2018 took place on 25 September 2018 at 22:38:00 UTC (19:38:00 local time) from Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 (ELA 3) in Kourou, French Guiana.[3][4] It took place after launch VA244 after being postponed due to the unavailability of the GSAT-11 satellite, initially foreseen on board the flight.

Orbit

The mission was planned to last 42 minutes and 17 seconds, placing the both satellites into geostationary transfer orbits with a perigee altitude of about 250 kilometres (160 mi) and apogee of 35,726 kilometres (22,199 mi) and an inclination of about 6 degrees.[1][3][4]

References
  1. "VA243 Launch Kit" (PDF). Arianespace. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  2. "100th Ariane 5 launch a success, orbiting two satellites for Intelsat, SKY Perfect JSAT and Azercosmos". Arianespace. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  3. "Flight VA243: The 100th Ariane 5 will carry Horizons 3e and Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 for Intelsat, SKY Perfect JSAT and Azercosmos". Arianespace. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  4. "VA243 – LA 100e Ariane 5 embarquera les satellites Horizons 3e et Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 pour les opérateurs Intelsat, SKY Perfect JSAT et Azercosmos" (PDF). Arianespace (in French). 18 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.