This news is classified in: Aerospace Communications Space
Feb 6, 2019
Arianespace opened its 2019 mission activity by successfully orbiting a pair of telecommunications spacecraft – Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 (HS-4/SGS-1) and GSAT-31 – using the company’s workhorse Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
Today’s flight to geostationary orbit, performed from the Spaceport in French Guiana, delivered a payload lift performance estimated at 10,018 kg. – which included the two spacecraft, along with the dispenser system and integration hardware in Ariane 5’s dual-passenger configuration.
Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël confirmed the success in post-launch comments from the Spaceport’s Jupiter control room. “For the first Ariane 5 launch of the year, our heavyweight vehicle has once more performed flawlessly,” he said. “Congratulations to all!”
by Component (Antenna, Bracket, Shield, Housing and Propulsion), Satellite Mass (Nano and microsatellite, small satellite, medium and large satellite), Application and Region
Download free sample pages“Condosat” capabilities
Deployed first in the flight sequence 27 minutes after liftoff, HS-4/SGS-1 is a geostationary “condosat” for Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and Greek-Cypriot satellite operator Hellas Sat, an Arabsat subsidiary. Designed, assembled and integrated by Lockheed Martin Space, HS-4/SGS-1 will operate from an orbital position of 39 deg. East, with a coverage area that includes Europe, South Africa and the Middle East.
The Arianespace CEO acknowledged the direct customer for HS-4/SGS-1, Arabsat, and called this 11th Arianespace mission at the service of the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based telecommunications operator a “new bright success.”
The Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1 communications payload will provide advanced Ka-band spot beam communications services for KACST, a government organization responsible for promoting science and technology in Saudi Arabia. The Hellas Sat 4 communications payload will deliver advanced Ku-band regional beam communications services for the Arabsat subsidiary.
23 launches and counting for ISRO
GSAT-31 was carried in Ariane 5’s lower payload position and released second in the sequence for today’s mission, which is designated Flight VA247 in Arianespace’s numbering system – representing the 247th launch of an Ariane-series launch vehicle.
The spacecraft was designed and manufactured by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and will provide Ku-band communications services from an orbital slot at 48 deg. East, helping “bridge the digital divide” with coverage across the Indian subcontinent.
Israël noted that GSAT-31 was the 23rd ISRO satellite orbited by Arianespace and Ariane-series launchers, tracing the relationship back to India’s APPLE small experimental communications spacecraft, lofted in 1981 by an Ariane 1 version. He added: “Arianespace is honored ISRO has entrusted Ariane 5 for two launches back-to-back, with the last Ariane 5 of 2018 launching GSAT-11, and today the first one of the year 2019, which orbited GSAT-31!”
With today’s success, Arianespace kicks off a busy launch schedule in 2019 – which targets up to 12 missions from the Spaceport with the heavyweight Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and lightweight Vega.
