Amazonas 3 is unloaded from the An-124 cargo jetliner after its arrival at Félix Eboué Airport near French Guiana’s capital city of Cayenne.
Ariane Flight VA212
The HISPASAT Amazonas 3 satellite for Arianespace’s first Ariane 5 mission of 2013 has arrived in French Guiana, marking the start of payload preparations for this year-opening dual-passenger flight from the Spaceport.
Amazonas 3 was delivered by a chartered An-124 cargo jetliner, which touched down at Félix Eboué Airport near Cayenne, the capital city of French Guiana.
Built by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California, the satellite is based on the company’s LS1300 platform, and will have a liftoff mass of 6.2 metric tons. After deployment by Ariane 5, it is to be located at a 61º West orbital position – enabling the spacecraft to offer coverage across the entire American continent, along with Europe and North Africa.
Amazonas 3 will operate in the Ka-, Ku- and C-bands, with its novel Ka-band payload positioning the HISPASAT Group as Latin America’s first operator capable of offering interactive services and multimedia applications via satellite to a large number of users. The relay platform has a designed operating lifetime of more than 15 years.
In addition to providing expanded Internet access in the region, other services will be available via Amazonas 3, including television broadcasting, the deployment of corporate fixed and mobile telephone networks, along with tele-education and tele-medicine, broadband and integrated communications solutions for telecommunications operators.
Amazonas 3 will be orbited by Ariane 5 along with the Azerspace/Africasat-1a telecommunications satellite on a mission set for February 7. This is the first of six heavy-lift Ariane 5 launches planned by Arianespace in another busy year of activity at the Spaceport. Also scheduled during 2013 are four medium-lift Soyuz flights and one with the new light-lift Vega from French Guiana. This will be complemented by a Soyuz liftoff at Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, operated under the responsibility of Arianespace’s Euro-Russian Starsem subsidiary.
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Update: 27.01.2013
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Ariane Flight VA212
Arianespace’s first Ariane 5 for launch in 2013 is now ready to receive its two satellite passengers after this heavy-lift launcher was moved to the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building in French Guiana.
The Ariane 5 rolled out yesterday from the Launcher Integration Building – where its core cryogenic stage, two solid boosters and cryogenic upper stage were assembled by prime contractor Astrium Space Transportation, to the Final Assembly Building for delivery to Arianespace.
Under Arianespace’s responsibility, the launcher is now ready to receive its Azerspace/Africasat-1a and Amazonas 3 payloads, followed by final verifications and transfer to the launch zone for a liftoff on February 7.
This will be one of six Ariane 5 flights targeted by Arianespace in 2013, maintaining the workhorse vehicle’s sustained mission pace at the Spaceport. Also planned from French Guiana during the year are five liftoffs with Arianespace’s two other launcher family members: four medium-lift Soyuz flights and one with the light-lift Vega. In addition, a Soyuz launch is scheduled from Baikonur Cosmodrome, operated on behalf of Arianespace by its Starsem affiliate.
Azerspace/Africasat-1a was produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation under contract to the Republic of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies – which is the shareholder in the country's national satellite operator, Azercosmos. Based on Orbital’s STAR-2 platform, the satellite will have a liftoff mass of approximately 3,250 kg. It carries 36 active C- and Ku-band transponders, enabling the spacecraft to provide communications coverage for Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Europe and Africa during a designed mission life of 15 years from an orbital location of 46 deg. East.
Amazonas 3 was built by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California based on the company’s 1300-series platform, and will have a liftoff mass of 6,200 kg. This spacecraft is to be located at a 61º West orbital slot – positioning it for coverage across the entire American continent, along with Europe and North Africa. Amazonas 3 will operate in the Ka-, Ku- and C-bands, with an operating design lifetime of more than 15 years.
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Installed on one of two operational mobile launch tables at the Spaceport, Ariane 5 is shown prior to its rollout from the Launcher Integration Building, the vehicle approaches the Final Assembly Building, where this mission’s payload will be integrated.
Quelle: arianespace
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Update: 7.02.2013
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Azerbaijan is to launch its first telecommunication satellite, Azerspace, on Thursday night, Information and IT Minister Ali Abbasov said Wednesday.
“Our first satellite, Azerspace, will be launched and put into geostationary orbit from the Kourou space center in French Guiana with a French carrier rocket, Arianspace,” he said in an interview with the website of the ruling party, Eni Azerbaijan.
The satellite will provide Internet and other communication and broadcasting services across the country, the minister said.
Abbasov earlier said the project was worth a total of $230 million, including $17 million in insurance for the satellite.
Satellite operation is expected to generate about $600 million to $650 million in revenues.
Azerbaijan signed a satellite launch contract, reportedly worth $93 million, with Arianespace in November 2010.
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