International Launch Services (ILS), Arianespace’s main competitor, has just recorded its third success of the year. Last night at 00:18 (22:18 UT), a Proton M launch vehicle blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in order to place a second satellite, belonging to the Al Yah Satellite Communications operator (YahSat) based in the United Arab Emirates, in orbit. The Breeze M upper stage modified the trajectory by firing five times in 9 hours prior to releasing the satellite into its geostationary transfer orbit this morning at about 09:30.
Liftoff video. Credits: Roskosmos
YahSat 1B is a satellite that weighs in at over 6 tonnes (with its tanks full of propellant) and is part of the Eurostar 3000 series. It was manufactured and put together in Toulouse, France, by Astrium with a payload supplied by Thales Alenia Space, also in Toulouse. Once positioned at 52.5° E on the geostationary arc (vertically over the Seychelles), it is to provide telecommunications and Internet services for Africa, the Middle East and south-west Asia. It will also be responsible for the Emirates’ government links.
An identical YahSat 1A was launched a year ago by Ariane 5.
Published 24 April 2012
Proton launches a satellite made in Toulouse
The previous satellite, made in Toulouse and launched by Proton, was the unfortunate Ekspress AM-4 on 17 August 2011 which ended up in an unusable orbit and had to be plunged into the atmosphere so that it was burnt up on 27 March 2012.
The next one, Luxembourg’s Astra 2F telecommunications satellite, is due to be launched in the last quarter of 2012.
The space adventure park in Toulouse has completely redesigned and renewed its permanent exhibitions. The result is an interactive immersion into man's enthusiasm for the stars.
On Monday 6 August the Mars rover Curiosity should land on the red planet. From today Enjoy Space and Cité de l’Espace are offering you the chance to follow this event on Twitter, and then by video, direct from the NASA JPL in California!
This is the mythical rocket par excellence, the one that launched Sputnik, the first satellite and Gagarin, the first man in space. The CSG, Guiana Space Centre, is now one of its launch bases: a historic achievement.
