The final countdown has begun for today’s Arianespace Ariane 5 mission from the Spaceport, which is to orbit a dual-passenger payload consisting of the EUTELSAT 25B/Es’hail 1 and GSAT-7 satellites.
Ariane 5’s liftoff is planned during a 50-minute launch window that opens at 5:30 p.m. local time in French Guiana, initiating this fourth flight of 2013 with Arianespace’s heavy-lift workhorse.
The mission – which has a payload lift performance estimated at 9,790 kg – will be conducted from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch complex, with the two passengers to be deployed during a flight sequence lasting approximately 34 minutes.
EUTELSAT 25B/Es’hail 1 – which is riding in the top position of the Ariane 5 payload “stack” – will separate first, some 27 minutes after liftoff. To be operated by Eutelsat Communications and Qatar’s Es’hailSat Satellite Company, this high-power multi-mission relay platform will deliver Ku-band television broadcasting, telecommunications and government services for the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. It was built by Space Systems/Loral (SSL) based on the spacecraft manufacturer’s 1300 satellite bus.
At approximately 34 minutes into the flight, the lower passenger – GSAT-7 – will be deployed, completing the mission. This communications satellite was developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) using India’s standard I-2K spacecraft bus, and it is to provide UHF, S-band, C-band and Ku-band relay capacity over the country’s land mass.
Watch the launch live with Arianespace’s real-time video broadcast.
Launch window: 4:30 – 5:20 p.m. ET (8:30 – 9:20 GMT).
