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Double-Header Launch for Orbital

 

They’ll be up early in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday morning, watching a rocket launch their new satellite — and the same goes for Intelsat in Pembroke, Bermuda, too.

For the past few weeks, Orbital Sciences has been very busy at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou preparing for their "double-header:" they built both "passengers" set to be carried by Arianespace. Looks like a "go" for an Ariane 5 (GS configuration) launching Optus D2 and Intelsat 11 on Friday, 5 October 2007:

Arianespace’s fourth mission of 2007 is set for Friday, October 5, with the green light given today after the launch readiness review at Europe’s Spaceport.

This review, which is held before every Ariane flight, verifies the readiness of the Ariane 5 vehicle, its two payloads, the launch infrastructure at the Spaceport in French Guiana, and the downrange network of tracking stations.

The upcoming mission will orbit two medium-sized satellites built by the same U.S. manufacturer, Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation, for Intelsat and Optus.

The Intelsat 11 spacecraft is riding in Ariane 5’s upper payload position, and is to be released first in the mission sequence. To be operated by Washington, D.C.-headquartered Intelsat, the satellite will host Latin America’s premiere video programmers and the region’s largest DTH (direct-to-home) platform. Intelsat 11 is based on the Orbital Sciences STAR 2 spacecraft bus, and carries a hybrid payload composed of 16 C-band and 18 Ku-band transponders. The satellite weighs approximately 2,500 kg. at launch.

Optus D2 also uses an Orbital Sciences STAR 2 bus, and is to be operated by Australian-based Optus to enable the development of new business opportunities for the direct-to-home market, new data services and services bundling. Positioned at an orbital slot of 152 deg. East, the 2,350-kg.

45-minute launch window opening, by city:

  • GMT: 21:28 on 5 OCT 2007
  • Luxembourg: 23:28 on 5 OCT 2007
  • New York: 17:28 on 5 OCT 2007
  • Kourou, French Guiana (local time): 18:28 on 5 OCT 2007
  • Sydney: 07:28 on 6 OCT 2007

Watch the live Webcast here.

Here’s Intelsat 11 being tested…

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 4th, 2007 at 3:58 am and is filed under Around the Blogs, Astronomy, Observation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.