For its ninth launch of the year, and the fifth Ariane 5 mission in 2017 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, Arianespace will orbit Intelsat 37e for the operator Intelsat and BSAT-4a for the manufacturer SSL (Space Systems Loral) in the framework of a turnkey contract for the Japanese operator Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT).

With this 292th mission performed by its family of launchers, and the 239th utilizing an Ariane family launch vehicle – Arianespace is at the service of the latest innovation in space telecommunications.

Date and time

Liftoff is planned on Tuesday, September 5, 2017
as early as possible within the following launch window:
Between 5:51 p.m. and 6:24 p.m., Washington, D.C. time
Between 6:51 p.m. and 7:24 p.m., in Kourou, French Guiana
Between 21:51 and 22:24, Universal Time (UTC)
Between 11:51 p.m. and 00:24 a.m., Paris time during the night of September 5 to 6
Between 6:51 a.m. and 7:24 a.m., Tokyo time on September 6.

mission duration

The nominal duration of the mission (from liftoff to separation of the satellites) is:
47 minutes, 15 seconds.

Targeted ORBIT

Perigee altitude – 250 km.
Apogee altitude – 35,706 km.
Inclination – 6 degrees

The Launch Readiness Review (LRR) will take place on Friday, September 1, 2017 in Kourou, to authorize the start of operations for the final countdown.

Intelsat 37e is 59e Intelsat’s satellite to be launched by Arianespace since the successful orbiting of Intelsat 507 in October 1983.  It also is the fifth broadband infrastructure satellite in the Intelsat EpicNG series and the fourth EpicNG spacecraft orbited by Arianespace to date, a sign of Intelsat’s great confidence in Arianespace launch services.

Intelsat 37e represents a significant evolution of the award-winning EpicNG platform, incorporating enhanced power sharing technology, which enables the assignment of power between shaped, fixed and steerable spot Ku-band and Ka-band beams. This allows optimized services to meet the requirements of in-demand applications – by region – and the delivery of higher transmission efficiency for mobility and government customers in the Americas, Africa and Europe.

Intelsat 37e is the first satellite to offer interconnectivity between three different bands. This next-generation spacecraft delivers high-performance service in C-, Ku- and Ka-bands for use in wireless backhaul, enterprise VSAT and mobility networks.

Built by Boeing based on its 702MP platform, Intelsat 37e will be the 55th satellite made by this manufacturer to be launched by Arianespace.

The BSAT-4a satellite, designed and built for B-SAT, a leading broadcasting satellite operator in Japan, will be used for Direct-to-Home (DTH) television service across the Japanese archipelago. BSAT-4a is the 9th satellite to be launched by Arianespace for B-SAT, and is being orbited as part of a turnkey contract between B-SAT and the U.S.-based satellite manufacturer SSL.

The BSAT-4a satellite has 24 Ku-band transponders and will expand the availability of advanced television services such as high definition and 4K/8K ultra-high definition.

The satellite is based on the highly-reliable SSL 1300 platform, which provides the flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technological advances.
BSAT-4a will be the 64nd SSL-built satellite made by this manufacturer to be launched by Arianespace.

For further information, download the Flight VA239 Launch Kit by clicking here:
http://www.arianespace.com/press-kits/

To watch a live, high-speed online transmission of the launch (including commentary in French and English from the launch site), go to arianespace.com on September 5 beginning 15 minutes before liftoff.

You also can follow the launch live on your iPhone or iPad (the Arianespace HD app is free).