Intelsat 905 is the fourth satellite to be
launched in the Intelsat IX series by Arianespace, the new generation
of satellite deployed by this global communications provider, and was
the 21st Intelsat satellite to be launched by Ariane.

The collaboration between Arianespace and Intelsat reaches back to
1983. Sixty percent of the Intelsat satellites in operation today were
orbited by the European launcher, making it Arianespace’s largest
customer.

The first series IX satellite, Intelsat 901, was launched by
Arianespace on June 9th, 2001 (Flight 141), followed by Intelsat 902
on August 30th, 2001 (Flight 143) and Intelsat 904 on February 28th,
2002 (Flight 148).

Two more Intelsat IX satellites are scheduled for an Arianespace
launch.

Intelsat 905 is Arianespace’s seventh successful launch in 2002 and
the 71st successful Ariane 4 launch in a row.

Upcoming launch

Ariane 5: Flight 153/Ariane 512 is scheduled for late June. An Ariane
5 will launch into geostationary transfer orbit 2 telecommunications
satellites : STELLAT 5 and N STAR C.

Flight 152 at a glance

Flight 152 was carried out by an Ariane 44L, the version of the
launcher with four liquid-propellant strap-on boosters, from Europe’s
Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on June 5, 2002 at 6
:44 a.m. Universal Time (3:44 a.m. local time in Kourou, 8:44 a.m. in
Paris and 2:44 a.m. in Washington, DC).

Provisional parameters at third stage injection were:
Perigee: 200.1 km for a target of 199.8 km (Ø3 km)
Apogee: 35,964 km for a target of 35,943 km (Ø150 km)
Inclination: 6.98 degrees for a target of 7.00 degrees (Ø0.06°)

The Intelsat 905 satellite

Built by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California, the Intelsat
905 will be positioned at 335.5 degrees East. It will join Intelsat’s
fleet of satellites providing Internet connections, telephony,
television and enterprise network services for the Americas, Europe,
Africa and the Middle-East. Weighing 4,723 kg. at liftoff, the
Intelsat 905 is fitted with 76 C-band transponders and 22 Ku-band
transponders (in 36 MHz unit equivalents) designed and built by
Alcatel Space. Design life in orbit is over 13 years.