Jacques van Oene
August 9th 05, 02:04 PM
August 8, 2005
Ariane 5 receives its "go" order for an August 11 liftoff with a
record-setting payload!
Mission team members today gave the go-ahead for an early morning August 11
liftoff of Arianespace's Ariane 5 flight with the heavyweight THAICOM 4
(IPSTAR) satellite.
This green light followed today's launch readiness review at the Spaceport
in French Guiana, which validated the status of all elements for the flight,
including the Ariane 5 Generic vehicle, its THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR) payload, the
launch infrastructure at the Spaceport and the network of ground stations
that will track the flight.
The launch readiness review go-ahead will allow the completed Ariane 5 to
be transferred tomorrow from the Spaceport's final assembly building to the
ELA-3 launch zone. Final countdown for the mission will begin on August 10,
with the liftoff scheduled at the start of a two-hour launch window that
opens at 3:39 a.m. local time in French Guiana (06h39 GMT, 01:39 p.m. in
Bangkok, and 08:39 a.m. in Paris).
THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR) was built for Shin Satellite Plc of Thailand by Space
Systems/Loral, and it will be the heaviest commercial satellite ever
delivered to geosynchronous orbit. The three-axis stabilized spacecraft has
a liftoff mass of 14,300 lb. (6,486 kg.), and is to provide enterprises and
consumers with various levels of Internet access service throughout 14
countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
With a total data throughput capacity of over 45 Gbps, the
telecommunications platform will offer user data speeds of up to four Mbps
on the forward link and two Mbps on the return link. Its complement of seven
antennas will create 112 regional and spot beams in the Ku and Ka frequency
bands.
THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR) will be the fourth spacecraft ever orbited for Shin
Satellite - which has used Ariane vehicles to launch all of its previous
satellites. The other spacecraft owned and operated by Shin Satellite are
THAICOM 1A (launched by an Ariane 4 in 1993), and THAICOM 2 and 3 (orbited
by Ariane 4s in October 1994 and April 1997, respectively).
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
Ariane 5 receives its "go" order for an August 11 liftoff with a
record-setting payload!
Mission team members today gave the go-ahead for an early morning August 11
liftoff of Arianespace's Ariane 5 flight with the heavyweight THAICOM 4
(IPSTAR) satellite.
This green light followed today's launch readiness review at the Spaceport
in French Guiana, which validated the status of all elements for the flight,
including the Ariane 5 Generic vehicle, its THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR) payload, the
launch infrastructure at the Spaceport and the network of ground stations
that will track the flight.
The launch readiness review go-ahead will allow the completed Ariane 5 to
be transferred tomorrow from the Spaceport's final assembly building to the
ELA-3 launch zone. Final countdown for the mission will begin on August 10,
with the liftoff scheduled at the start of a two-hour launch window that
opens at 3:39 a.m. local time in French Guiana (06h39 GMT, 01:39 p.m. in
Bangkok, and 08:39 a.m. in Paris).
THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR) was built for Shin Satellite Plc of Thailand by Space
Systems/Loral, and it will be the heaviest commercial satellite ever
delivered to geosynchronous orbit. The three-axis stabilized spacecraft has
a liftoff mass of 14,300 lb. (6,486 kg.), and is to provide enterprises and
consumers with various levels of Internet access service throughout 14
countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
With a total data throughput capacity of over 45 Gbps, the
telecommunications platform will offer user data speeds of up to four Mbps
on the forward link and two Mbps on the return link. Its complement of seven
antennas will create 112 regional and spot beams in the Ku and Ka frequency
bands.
THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR) will be the fourth spacecraft ever orbited for Shin
Satellite - which has used Ariane vehicles to launch all of its previous
satellites. The other spacecraft owned and operated by Shin Satellite are
THAICOM 1A (launched by an Ariane 4 in 1993), and THAICOM 2 and 3 (orbited
by Ariane 4s in October 1994 and April 1997, respectively).
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info