Paris. October 24. INTERFAX - The Ariane-5 heavy launch vehicle of the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched two communications satellites into orbit on Sunday, the French operator Arianespace reported.
"The withdrawal of satellites has been confirmed," the message says.
The launch of the rocket with satellites was carried out at 03:10 Paris time (05:10 Moscow time) from the Kourou cosmodrome in French Guiana.
It was supposed to take place an hour earlier, but was postponed due to an identified problem in the first stage of the rocket. It was quickly eliminated.
Initially, the launch was supposed to take place on Friday, but it was canceled due to problems in ground systems.
As part of the VA255 mission, the rocket launched the SYRACUSE 4A and SES-17 satellites, created by the Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer Thales Alenia Space, into geostationary orbit with an apogee of 35.2 thousand km and a perigee of 250 km.
The SYRACUSE-4A military satellite weighing more than 3.8 tons has been put into orbit in the interests of the French Ministry of Defense. It is designed to provide communication between command posts in France and groups of troops stationed around the world. In addition, the device is equipped with an optoelectronic tracking system.
The SES-17 high-bandwidth communications satellite was created by the Luxembourg company SES S.A. This is the third such satellite that has joined the company's orbital grouping. The device weighing more than 6.4 tons and operating for 15 years will provide communication coverage in the Ka-band in North and South America, as well as over the Atlantic Ocean to ensure communication between aircraft. The satellite has about 200 Ka-band rays to cover these regions. It will be the first SES satellite in the pure Ka band in geostationary orbit. The power of the SES-17 device reaches 15 kW.
