Ariane Flight VA253

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More about this launch

Press release: Triple mission success for Ariane 5: the Galaxy 30, MEV-2 and BSAT-4b satellites reach geostationary transfer orbit

Launch date: August 15, 2020

Payload(s): Galaxy 30, MEV-2, BSAT-4b

Launch vehicle: Ariane 5

Launch site: Spaceport, French Guiana (Guiana Space Center)

Customer(s): Intelsat, SpaceLogistics LLC, Maxar Technologies for BSAT

Prime contractor(s): Northrop Grumman, Maxar Technologies

Orbit: Geostationary transfer orbit (GTO)

Status: Success

Arianespace will orbit Galaxy 30 / Mission Extension Vehicle-2 for INTELSAT and BSAT-4b for MAXAR and Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) as a final customer

For its fifth launch of 2020, Arianespace will orbit two telecommunications satellites (Galaxy 30 and BSAT-4b) and one life extension vehicle (Mission Extension Vehicle-2 or MEV-2) using an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Center.

With this 253^rd Ariane mission, Arianespace once again serves the ambitions of leading satellite operators by contributing to the improvement of life on Earth.

Payloads

Galaxy 30 / Mission Extension Vehicle-2

The Galaxy 30/MEV-2 is a Northrop Grumman Corporation (former Orbital ATK) program combining two satellites stacked together: Intelsat’s Galaxy 30 and Mission Extension Vehicle-2 for SpaceLogistics LLC, a satellite servicing vehicle which will dock first to Intelsat 10-02 (IS-10-02).

Galaxy 30 (G-30) will be the first replacement satellite in Intelsat’s North American Galaxy fleet refresh. It will provide high-performance broadcast distribution capabilities, including Ultra-High Definition (HD), while also supporting broadband, mobility and enterprise network solutions.

The launch of G-30 demonstrates Intelsat’s long-term commitment to its media customers and its media distribution neighborhoods, which have an unmatched penetration of cable headends in the United States.

Galaxy 30 will be the 62^nd satellite to be launched by Arianespace for Intelsat.
Galaxy 30 will be the 29^th NG satellite to be launched by Arianespace.

MEV-2 is supplied by Northrop Grumman for the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, SpaceLogistics LLC. Intelsat 10-02 will be the first customer of the MEV-2. Once docked, it will control the orbit of the customer satellite using its own thrusters. After its mission for IS-10-02, MEV-2 will undock and be available for another customer’s vehicle.

The first MEV, MEV-1, was launched by Proton in October 2019. It docked with Intelsat-901 in February 2020.

After MEV-2, Northrop Grumman and SpaceLogistics are developing a new generation of satellite servicing vehicles that could attach propulsion jetpacks to multiple spacecraft in a single mission.

MEV-2 will be the 1^st satellite servicing vehicle to be launched by Arianespace.
MEV-2 will be the 30^th NG satellite to be launched by Arianespace.

BSAT-4b satellite

The BSAT-4b satellite, designed and built for Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT), a leading broadcasting satellite operator in Japan, will be used for Direct-to-Home (DTH) television service above the Japan archipelago.

BSAT-4b satellite will serve as a backup system after BSAT-4a launched in September 2017. It will be the 10^th launch for B-SAT. It will provide Direct-To-Home (DTH) television to ensure exceptional 4K/8K ultra-high definition (UHD) video distribution above the Japan archipelago, like its twin BSAT-4a. It is designed to provide service for 15 years or longer.

The Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) is a Japanese company created in April 1993 to manage satellite procurement, control and management of broadcast satellites, supply for basic broadcasting stations and to all operations and all businesses relating.

Arianespace has launched all B-SAT satellites since the creation of this Japanese operator, reflecting the launch services company’s exceptionally strong position in this market. This mission also underlines the exceptional quality of the partnership between Arianespace, Maxar and the Japanese operator B-SAT.

The Arianespace GTO market share in Japan is 74% since Japan’s first commercial satellite launch JCSAT-1 in 1989. In addition, Arianespace has launched a total of 2 auxiliary payloads in cooperation with JAXA.

Maxar is a major supplier of innovative satellite systems that has already built and integrated many of the most powerful and complete satellites in the world.

BSAT-4b will be the 66^th Maxar satellite to be launched by Arianespace.
BSAT-4b will be the 68^th satellite launched by Arianespace based on a Maxar (SSL) platform.
It will be the 58^th satellite launched by Arianespace based on the 1300 platform.
There are currently 3 Maxar satellites in Arianespace’s backlog.