Mon, Jul 19, 2004
Anik F2 Is The Largest Commercial Telecom Satellite Ever
Launched
Arianespace successfully orbited
Telesat's Anik F2 payload on an Ariane 5 Saturday night, placing
the 12,118-lb. spacecraft into geostationary transfer orbit.
Anik F2 is the heaviest commercial telecommunications satellite
ever launched, and will provide high-speed Internet and digital
communications from a final orbital position of 111.1 deg.
West.
It uses the Boeing 702 satellite bus and carries a mixed payload
of 32 Ku-band transponders, 38 Ka-band transponders and 24 C-band
transponders.
Flight 163 marked the 15th successful mission of the Ariane 5
(Generic) launch vehicle.
"I would like to thank Telesat, which has -- for the fifth time
-- placed its confidence in Arianespace," said Arianespace CEO
Jean-Yves Le Gall after the conclusion of Flight 163. "I also would
like to thank the European Space Agency, French CNES space agency
and Arianespace's industrial team for the mission -- and in
particular the personnel here at the Spaceport, who gave their full
support during the past several days."
Previous satellites launched by Arianespace for the Ottawa,
Canada-based Telesat were Anik F1 in November 2000, MSAT 1 in April
1996, Anik E1 in September 1991, and Anik E2 in April 1991.
The liftoff of Flight 163 had been delayed by two anomalies and
a weather scrub, but the Ariane launch team demonstrated its
reactivity by adjusting to the situation and making sure Ariane 5
and the Spaceport were launch-ready.
Arianespace's next mission is targeted for October, and will use
the Ariane 5 ECA heavylift launcher version. Flight 164 will carry
two payloads: the XTAR-EUR X-band telecommunications satellite (for
the XTAR joint venture company of Loral Space & Communications
and HISDESAT, S.A.), and a Kayser-Threde test satellite produced
for the European Space Agency.
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