Posted: Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 8:44 PM ET (0144 GMT)
Arianespace started a busy 2020 with the launch Thursday of two communications satellites. An Ariane 5 lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 4:05 pm EST (2105 GMT) and deployed the Eutelsat Konnect and GSAT-30 satellites into geostationary transfer orbits. Eutelsat Konnect is the first satellite to use the Neosat bus intended to reduce the cost of advanced communications satellites. The spacecraft will provide Ka-band services for Europe and Africa. GSAT-30 was built by the Indian space agency ISRO to replace the existing INSAT-4A satellite. The launch is the first of as many as 22 missions Arianespace expects to conduct this year.
