On November 15, the world’s leading satellite launch service provider Arianespace announced that the launch of two telecommunications satellites via the Ariane-5 rocket, which was postponed last Saturday due to certain technical reasons, was successfully conducted last night (November 16) and is scheduled to take place tonight (November 17).
The European ECA rocket, capable of launching satellites weighing up to 10 tons, will place the two telecommunications satellites Spaceway-2 and Telkom-2 into orbit. With a combined weight of 8 tons, this is considered the heaviest satellite launch into orbit by a European rocket.
The General Director of Arianespace stated: “The satellite launch from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana will take place between 20:46 and 21:31 local time (23:46 and 00:31 GMT). We are ready for the satellite launch, and the weather is very good.”
According to him, a technical glitch involving one of the soft connection tubes on the launch pad and one of the ground equipment led to the cancellation of the satellite launch on the previous Saturday and Sunday nights.
Among the satellites launched by Arianespace, Spaceway-2 is the largest telecommunications satellite, weighing 6.1 tons, manufactured by Boeing Satellite Systems in the United States to ensure the provision of live television programming in the U.S.
The second satellite, Telkom-2, weighs nearly 2 tons and is aimed at providing telecommunications services for the Indonesian archipelago.
