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Ariane 5 July 29, 2019

Flight VA249: Arianespace will orbit Intelsat 39 and EDRS-C with Ariane 5

For its third flight with Ariane 5 this year, Arianespace will orbit two telecommunications satellites for long-term customers: Intelsat 39, for the operator Intelsat; and the EDRS-C satellite, based on a public–private partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus.

Through this mission, Arianespace highlights its ability to be at the service of innovative satellite solutions for commercial and institutional needs.

Flight VA248 will be performed from Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 (ELA 3) in Kourou, French Guiana.

The Launch Readiness Review (LRR) will take place on Friday, August 2, 2019 in Kourou to authorize the start of operations for the final countdown.

Intelsat 39 will be the 61st satellite launched by Arianespace for Intelsat since the first mission at its service in 1983. It will replace Intelsat 902 (launched by Arianespace in 2001) at 62 degrees East.

The Intelsat 39 telecommunication satellite is designed with both wide and high-powered steerable spot beams to meet the needs of broadband networking, video and government customers across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Indian Ocean region. The steerable spot beams provide flexibility within the payload and enable customers to rapidly and efficiently respond to shifts in geographic or application requirements.

The satellite features C-and Ku-band capabilities to provide additional scale for Intelsat’s Flex managed service and enhance mobile connectivity for aero, maritime and government users operating across these regions.

Intelsat 39 was built by Maxar in Palo Alto, California.

The EDRS-C satellite is the second node of the SpaceDataHighway network. The SpaceDataHighway is the world’s first “optical fiber” network in the sky based on cutting-edge laser technology. It will help to improve environmental and security monitoring, disaster response and crisis management.

Launched into a geostationary orbit at 31° East, EDRS-C will be able to connect low-orbiting observation satellites via laser at a distance up to 45,000 km., as well as intelligence UAVs or mission aircraft.

The SpaceDataHighway is a public–private partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus, with the laser terminals developed by Tesat-Spacecom and Germany’s DLR Aerospace Center. Airbus owns, operates and provides services for the SpaceDataHighway. The EDRS-C satellite platform is supplied by OHB System AG.

In addition, a hosted payload – HYLAS 3 – was provided by Avanti Communications under a contract with ESA as a customer-furnished item to OHB.

For further information, download the Flight VA249 Launch Kit by clicking here: https://www.arianespace.com/press-kits/

To watch a live, high-speed online transmission of the launch (including commentary in French and English from the launch site), go to arianespace.com or to youtube.com/arianespace on August 6, 2019, beginning 15 minutes before liftoff.

About Arianespace

Arianespace uses space to make life better on Earth by providing launch services for all types of satellites into all orbits. It has orbited more than 600 satellites since 1980, using its family of three launchers, Ariane, Soyuz and Vega, from launch sites in French Guiana (South America) and Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Arianespace is headquartered in Evry, near Paris, and has a technical facility at the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, plus local offices in Washington, D.C., Tokyo and Singapore.

Arianespace is a subsidiary of ArianeGroup, which holds 74% of its share capital, with the balance held by 15 other shareholders from the European launcher industry.

MISSION VA249 : ARIANESPACE LANCERA INTELSAT 39 ET EDRS-C AVEC ARIANE 5
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