spacetoday.net: Ariane 5 launches communications, weather satellites

Ariane 5 launches communications, weather satellites

Posted: Sat, Jul 18, 2015, 10:35 AM ET (1435 GMT)
Ariane 5 launch of MSG-4 and Star One C4, July 2015 (Arianespace)

An Ariane 5 successfully launched a commercial communications satellite and a European weather satellite Wednesday evening. The Ariane 5 lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:42 pm EDT (2142 GMT) and placed the Star One C4 and MSG-4 satellite into geostationary transfer orbits. Star One C4, built by Space Systems Loral for Brazilian company Embratel Star One, weighed 5,560 kilograms at launch and has a payload of Ku-band transponders. MSG-4, built by Thales Alenia Space for Eumetsat, weighed 2,043 kilograms at launch and will provide meteorological data from 3.4 degrees west in GEO.