spacetoday.net: Ariane launches two satellites

Posted: Sun, May 28, 2006, 10:56 AM ET (1456 GMT)
Ariane 5 ECA launch of Satmex 6 and Thaicom 5 (Arianespace)

An Ariane 5 launched two commercial communications satellites Saturday evening. The Ariane 5 ECA lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana at 5:09 pm EDT (2109 GMT) and placed its two payloads, Satmex 6 and Thaicom 5, into geosynchronous transfer orbit about a half-hour later. Satmex 6, built by Space Systems/Loral for Satélites Mexicanos S.A. de C.V, is a 5,500-kg spacecraft with 36 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders that will operate from 113 degrees west in GEO. Thaicom 5, built by Alcatel Alenia Space for Shin Satellite Plc., is a 2,800-kg spacecraft with 25 C-band and 14 Ku-band that will operate from 78.5 degrees east in GEO. The combined mass of the two satellites, 8,200 kg, makes this the heaviest launch to GTO performed to date by the Ariane 5. The launch is the second this year for the Ariane 5 and the sixth in a little over nine months.