Military And Civilian
Telecom Satellites Are Readied For Arianespace's Third Ariane 5 Mission In
2008
(25 April 2008) The two payloads for Ariane 5's third mission of 2008 are undergoing pre-flight checkout at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana as Arianespace maintains the accelerated launch rate for its heavy-lift workhorse vehicle this year.
Skynet 5C will be the third satellite in the U.K.'s Skynet 5 series of satellites orbited by Ariane 5 on its next mission. (courtesy: Arianespace)
These satellites - Skynet 5C and Turksat 3A - are being readied for lift-off on May 23, which will be five weeks to the day after last Friday's on-target Ariane 5 launch with the VINASAT-1 and Star One C2 spacecraft.
Turksat 3A is the replacement satellite for Turksat 1C, which was orbited by an Ariane 4 vehicle in July 1996. (courtesy: ESA, CNES, Arianespace, Photo Optique Video du CSG)
Skynet 5C is the third satellite to be
launched by Arianespace for U.K.-based Paradigm - a military satellite
telecommunications operator that delivers resilient, survivable and secure
communications to military and government users. Ariane 5 missions in 2007
orbited Skynet 5A in March, followed by Skynet 5B in November.
The
Skynet 5 series of spacecraft are built by EADS Astrium, and carry hardened
Ultra High and Super High Frequency (UHF/SHF) payloads that operate with
multiple, steerable spot beams. Their relay capability is used by the U.K.'s
armed forces and other government agencies, and also is available to approved
international defence, governmental and multinational organisations - including
NATO, which recently selected Paradigm as part of a European team to provide
its next generation satellite communication services.
Riding with Skynet
5 on the upcoming Ariane 5 mission is Turksat 3A, a Thales Alenia Space-built
for Turkey's international satellite and cable operator. Turksat 3A will enable
Turksat to offer telecommunication services and direct TV broadcasting over a
broader area than its existing satellites, covering Turkey, Europe, Middle
East, North Africa and Central Asia.
Equipped with 24 Ku-band switchable
transponders, Turksat 3A will serve as a bridge between Europe and Asia - with
coverage specially designed to provide very efficient gain for broadband
applications such as VSAT services for low-cost, up-link
systems.
(source: Arianespace)
