With this planning, liftoff will commence during a launch window that opens at 7:05 p.m. local time in French Guiana.

After its deployment by Ariane 5, Amazonas 4A will provide enhanced relay capacity over Latin America and an extended range of communications and television services for operator HISPASAT.

It will be joined on the flight by ASTRA 5B, which will extend operator SES’ transponder capacity and geographical reach over Eastern Europe and neighboring markets, delivering direct-to-home, direct-to-cable and contribution feeds to digital terrestrial television networks. The spacecraft also carries a hosted L-band payload for the European Commission’s European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).

This upcoming flight will mark the 73rd launch of an Ariane 5 to date.