Ariane 5’s sixth launch this year
An Ariane 5 has delivered two telecom satellites, Arabsat-6B and GSAT-15, into their planned orbits.
Liftoff of flight VA227 occurred on 10 November at 21:34 GMT (22:34 CET, 18:34 local time) from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Arabsat-6B, with a mass at liftoff of 5798 kg and mounted in the upper position atop Ariane’s Sylda dual-payload carrier inside the fairing, was the first to be released about 27 minutes into the mission.
Following a series of burns controlled by Ariane’s computer, the Sylda structure encasing the 3164 kg GSAT-15 was then jettisoned. GSAT-15 was released into its own transfer orbit about 16 minutes after the first satellite.
Arabsat-6B, built by Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space, is owned and operated by Arabsat, an Arab League intergovernmental organization. Positioned at 26°E in geostationary orbit, Arabsat-6B will provide TV broadcasting, broadband and telecommunications services over the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. It has a design life of about 15 years.
GSAT-15, built and owned by the Indian Space Research Organization, will operate at 93.5°E in geostationary orbit to provide telecommunications services, as well as dedicated navigation-aid and emergency services for India. It has a design life of 12 years.
The payload mass for this launch was 9811 kg. The satellites totalled about 8963 kg, with payload adapters and carrying structures making up the rest.
Flight VA227 was the 83rd Ariane 5 mission.
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