Ariane-5 ECA rocket soars into space with TerreStar-1

July 1, 3:18 PMDC Space News ExaminerKeith Stein

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Photo: Arianespace

The Ariane 5’s 31st consecutive mission success was another record-setting flight for the workhorse Arianespace launcher – lofting the world’s largest commercial satellite, TerreStar-1, from a Spaceport in French Guiana Wednesday.

Lifting off from the ELA-3 launch zone, the Ariane 5 deployed TerreStar-1 into geostationary transfer orbit 26 minutes after launch. With a launch mass of nearly 6,910 kilograms (15,230 pounds), TerreStar-1 was carried as a solo payload on the heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA mission.

Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall thanked TerreStar-1’s operator – U.S.-based TerreStar Networks, Inc. – for its confidence, noting this is the 29th new satellite company to have relied on Arianespace for the launch of an initial spacecraft.

TerreStar-1 will be located at an orbital position of 111 degrees West longitude on the Earth’s equator, offering new-generation mobile communications services across the United States and Canada. The satellite was built at Space Systems/Loral’s Palo Alto, Calif. facility, and was the 34th spacecraft built by this U.S. satellite manufacturer to be launched by Arianespace.

Operating in the two-gigahertz radio spectrum with an 18-meter (59-foot) deployable reflector and powerful S-band feed array, TerreStar-1 will be able to manage some 500 spot beams. It is designed to supply secure communications services to governments in emergency situations, as well as to rural communities. The satellite also will provide voice, data and video transmission services to businesses via dual satellite/ground terminals approximately the size of a typical smart phone.

At the completion of Wednesday’s mission with TerreStar-1, Le Gall announced that Ariane 5’s next launch is set for mid-August, carrying a dual-satellite payload for two Asia-Pacific customers: JCSAT-12 for Japan’s SKY Perfect JSAT Corp.; and Australia’s Optus D3.

Le Gall said Arianespace remains on track to perform seven Ariane 5 flights during 2009.

The three Ariane 5 missions performed so far in 2009 have lofted a total of seven spacecraft with a combined payload mass of nearly 19,600 kg (43,210 lb.).