Arianespace to Lift Hughes, B-Sat Birds Tuesday

If you remember Papillon, you remember that it’s the story of convicted felon Henri Charrière’s numerous attempts to escape from a penal colony on French Guiana.

Hopefully, Arianespace will only require one attempt to break free of the surly bonds of earth when they launch their heavy lift mission with the SPACEWAY 3 (artist’s conception at left) and BSAT-3a satellites tomorrow from the Spaceport in French Guiana:

  Arianespace’s third heavy-lift Ariane 5 mission of 2007 has been cleared for its August 14 liftoff following today’s successful launch readiness review, which was performed at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

All is now set for Ariane 5’s transfer on August 13 from its Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch pad, where the final countdown will lead to a liftoff the following day, at the opening of a window runs from 8:44 p.m. to 9:21 p.m. (local time at French Guiana).

SPACEWAY 3 arrived in French Guiana a month ago; it will be operated by the Maryland-based Hughes Network Systems, LLC to provide satellite-delivered broadband services to enterprise, government and consumer users throughout North America. It was built by Boeing:

SPACEWAYTM is Hughes next generation broadband satellite network that will provide high-speed, two-way communications for Internet, data, voice, video and multimedia applications. The initial contract includes three Boeing 702 geostationary satellites built by Boeing Satellite Systems, (BSS) and will operate in the Ka-band spectrum. The first orbital slot is currently planned for 99 degrees west longitude….

The SPACEWAY satellites feature innovative, on-board digital processors, packet switching and spot beam technology. Spot beam technology will enable the satellite to provide services to small terminals, while on-board routers will enable mesh connectivity; users of the system will be able to directly communicate with any other user of the system without requiring connection through a central hub.

The builder of the B-Sat system is Lockheed-Martin, which began building the satellite in 2005: 

Designated BSAT-3a, the 1.8-kW satellite will provide direct broadcast services throughout Japan following its scheduled launch the second quarter of 2007.  Contract terms were not disclosed.  B-SAT previously issued an authorization to proceed to Lockheed Martin for start of satellite design and construction. 

The BSAT-3a communications payload comprises eight 130-W Ku-band channels and will be located at 110 degrees East longitude.  With a design life of more than 13 years, BSAT-3a is based on the award-winning A2100A platform manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS), Newtown, Pa.  BSAT-3a marks the 12th Lockheed Martin satellite contract awarded in the 1- to 4-kW small-class satellite range and the second in 2005.

B-SAT3a will provide direct television links for the entire Japanese archipelago, and will be operated by Japan’s B-SAT Corporation. The complete launch kit from Arianespace, featuring information on the payload, launch countdown and flight trajectory, can be found in PDF format here.