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Saturday, February 15, 2003
23rd launch for Intelsat
Kourou,French Guiana, February 15, 2003- Arianespace today orbited the Intelsat 907 communications satellite for international communications provider Intelsat.
23rd launch for Intelsat: Arianespace's leading customer
Intelsat 907 is the sixth Intelsat IX series satellite to be launched by Arianespace, and the 23rd Intelsat satellite orbited by Ariane. Intelsat's IX series is the latest generation of satellites deployed by this global communications provider.
Arianespace and Intelsat have worked together since 1983. More than 60 percent of Intelsat's satellites in operation today were orbited by the European launcher, making the company Arianespace's leading customer.
Ariane 4, an exemplary career
A total of 116 Ariane 4 rockets were launched from June 1988 to February 2003. Ariane 4 placed 182 satellites in orbit for over 50 different operators. With the success of Flight 159, Ariane 4 performs 74 successful launches in a row.
"The success of tonight reflects Europe's ability to mobilize its top production and operational teams to meet a common goal," said Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace. "I extend my sincere thanks to all of our teams in Europe and French Guiana alike. Based on Ariane 4, we built a true commercial launch service."
Upcoming launch
The launch preparation campaign for the next Ariane mission began in Kourou on January 20. The launch is scheduled as from end of March 2003.
The mission, designated Arianespace Flight 160, will orbit two communications satellites: Insat 3A for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), and Galaxy XII for PanAmSat.
Flight 159 at a glance
Flight 159 was Arianespace's first mission of 2003. It was carried out by an Ariane 44L, the version of the launcher with four liquid-propellant strap-on boosters, from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on February 15, 2003at7:00 a.m. GMT (4:00 a.m.local time in Kourou, 8:00 a.m.in Paris and 2:00 a.m.in Washington,DC).
Provisional parameters at third stage injection were:
Perigee: 199.0 km for a target of 199.8 km (+/- 3 km)
Apogee: 35,880 km for a target of 35,788 km (+/- 150 km)
Inclination: 7.00 degrees for a target of 7.00 degrees (+/- 0.06 degrees)
The Intelsat 907 satellite
Built by Space Systems/Loral inPalo Alto, California, Intelsat 907 will be positioned at 332.5 degrees East. It will join Intelsat's fleet of satellites providing Internet, telephony, television and enterprise network services fo rNorth America, South America, Europe and Africa. Weighing 4,680 kg at liftoff, Intelsat 906 is fitted with 76 C-band transponders and 22 Ku-band transponders (in 36 MHz unit equivalents). The payload was designed and built by Alcatel Space. Design life in orbit is more than 13 years.
About Arianespace
Arianespace is the commercial launch services leader, holding more than 50 percent of the international market for satellites launched to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). Created in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company, Arianespace has signed contracts for the launch of more than 250 satellite payloads. For further information, see the Arianespace Web site at www.arianespace.com.
