GSAT-11, GEO-KOMPSAT-2A (GK2A, Cheollian 2A) - Ariane 5 ECA (VA246) - Kourou ELA-3 - 04.12.2018

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Arianespace завершила трансляцию пуска

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Arianespace‏ @Arianespace 1 ч. назад

Reminder: #Ariane5 will deploy its GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellite passengers to geostationary transfer orbit during a 33-minute flight sequence. #VA246

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http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/flight-va246-ariane-5-lifts-off-from-french-guiana/

Ariane 5 | December 4, 2018
Flight VA246: Ariane 5 lifts off from French Guiana

Arianespace's Ariane 5 launcher has lifted off from the Spaceport in French Guiana, carrying the GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellites – which will be deployed during a sequence lasting 33 minutes from liftoff to final separation.

Payload lift performance for today's mission – which is designated Flight VA246 in Arianespace's launcher family numbering system – is estimated at 10,297 kg.

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http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/flight-va246-ariane-5-lifts-off-from-french-guiana/

Ariane 5 | December 4, 2018
Ariane 5 delivers for two special Arianespace partners: the space agencies of India and South Korea



Arianespace's 10th mission of 2018 orbited satellite payloads today for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), using the workhorse Ariane 5 on a launch performed from the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Designated Flight VA246 in Arianespace's launcher family numbering system, it delivered the ISRO GSAT-11 relay platform for Ku- and Ka-band communications, along with KARI's GEO-KOMPSAT-2A – which is to provide meteorological and space weather monitoring data.

"I want to express my deepest gratitude to two very special partners since the beginning of their space ambitions: ISRO and KARI," said Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël in post-launch comments from the Spaceport.

Continuing the long relationship with India's ISRO

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Israël noted that GSAT-11 was the 22nd ISRO satellite orbited by Arianespace and Ariane-series launchers, tracing the relationship back to India's APPLE small experimental communications spacecraft, which had a liftoff mass of 670-kg. and was lofted in 1981 by an Ariane 1 version. On today's Ariane 5 mission, GSAT-11 weighed in at 5,854.6 kg. – the largest and heaviest satellite ever built by the Indian space agency.

Deployed first during Ariane 5's 33-minute mission to geostationary transfer orbit, GSAT-11 will be positioned at 74 deg. East, providing communications services in Ku- and Ka-bands in both forward and return links. The satellite was designed and manufactured by ISRO, with its multi-spot beam coverage over the Indian mainland and nearby islands to bring significant advantages to users when compared with existing India's INSAT/GSAT satellite systems. GSAT-11's design lifetime is more than 15 years.

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South Korea's seventh satellite orbited by Arianespace

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GEO-KOMPSAT-2A was carried in Ariane 5's lower payload position and released second in the sequence for Flight VA246. Developed by KARI at its South Korean facility in Daejeon, this 3,507.2-kg. satellite will deliver meteorological and space weather monitoring from an orbital position of 128.2 deg. East as part of a Korean government national program.

"Arianespace is proud to maintain such a close bond with South Korea," Israël stated, adding that Flight VA246 marked the seventh time South Korea's flag has appeared on the fairing of an Arianespace launch vehicle.

In addition to the Ariane 5's payload fairing logos representing Flight VA246's two satellite passengers, also included was a decal recognizing the French city of Les Mureaux – home to the ArianeGroup site responsible for integration of Ariane 5 cryogenic main stages today, and for Ariane 6 launchers in the future. Les Mureaux is completing its year-long presidency for the Community of Ariane Cities, a non-profit association that brings together cities and their industrial companies involved in the Ariane program.

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The rapid tempo of Arianespace launches

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Arianespace has one more mission scheduled before year-end, using the Soyuz medium-lift member of its launcher family to orbit the CSO-1 spacecraft for France's DGA (Direction générale de l'armement) defense procurement agency and the French CNES space agency.

CEO Stéphane Israël noted that Arianespace has once again confirmed its flexibility and reliability by performing five launches in two and a half months – from September 25 to December 4 – with liftoffs coming every two weeks since early November. "What an impressive tempo," he concluded, noting that today's Flight VA246's orbiting of the GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellites for connectivity and weather data gathering fulfills Arianespace's motto: "Space for a better life on Earth."

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http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/flight-va246-ariane-5-lifts-off-from-french-guiana/

Ariane 5 | December 4, 2018
Arianespace orbits GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A for Indian And Korean space agencies: ISRO and KARI



Arianespace has successfully orbited two satellites: GSAT-11 for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A for KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute).

With this mission dedicated to space applications for telecommunications and meteorology, Arianespace once again contributes to the improvement of life on Earth.

The sixth Ariane 5 launch of the year took place on Tuesday, December 4 at 5:37 pm (local time) from the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana (South America).

This 10th mission in 2018 reflects the availability and flexibility of Arianespace, which has performed a launch every two weeks since November 6.

Arianespace, a key partner of ISRO

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Since the launch of India's APPLE experimental satellite on Ariane Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has won nearly all of India's geostationary orbit launch contracts opened to non-Indian launch vehicles, and has signed 24 launch contracts with the Indian space agency.

GSAT-11 is the 22nd satellite from ISRO to be launched by Arianespace, and the largest and heaviest satellite ever built by India's space agency. Arianespace has two other ISRO satellites in its order book to launch: GSAT-30 and GSAT-31. The latter, GSAT-31, will be lofted by Arianespace early next year.

GSAT-11, configured on the new-generation I6-K satellite bus, will provide communications services with multi-spot beam coverage of the Indian mainland and nearby islands. With this new satellite, ISRO will help bridge the digital divide in India within the scope of a program that capitalizes on space technology to support national development, while also pursuing space science research and planetary exploration.

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Arianespace helps South Korea develop its ambitious space program

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GEO-KOMPSAT-2A is the second satellite from the South Korean space agency KARI to be orbited by Arianespace, following the multi-mission COMS (Communication, Ocean, Meteorological Satellite), launched in 2010 by an Ariane 5.

Arianespace has two Earth observation satellites from KARI in its order book for future launches: GEO-KOMPSAT-2B on Ariane 5 and KOMPSAT-7 on Vega C.

Since launching South Korea's first satellites, KITSAT-1A in 1992 and KITSAT-2 in 1993 using Ariane 4 launch vehicles, Arianespace has become a major partner to the Korean space program.

Arianespace also has orbited three satellites for the telecom operator kt sat: KOREASAT-3 in 1999, KOREASAT-6 in 2010 and KOREASAT-7 in 2017.

GEO-KOMPSAT-2 is a national program developed by KARI for the South Korean government, involving the development and operation of two civilian geostationary satellites, GEO-KOMPSAT-2A and 2B.

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A is designed to conduct meteorological and space weather monitoring missions.

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Another launch for a better life on Earth

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With this latest launch, Arianespace continues its vocation of using its launcher family to make life better on Earth. The GSAT-11 satellite, which will help reduce the digital divide in India, is only the latest in a long line of communications satellites that connect people and enhance Internet access worldwide, including for people on the move. With the COP24 Climate Change Conference now taking place in Poland, the GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellite reflects Arianespace's commitment to sustainable development. It is the 67th Earth observation satellite to be launched by Arianespace.

A launch every two weeks

Flight VA246 is the 10th launch performed by Arianespace in 2018: six using Ariane 5s, two with Vega and two with Soyuz. In the fourth quarter of the year, Arianespace has once again proven its flexibility and reliability by carrying out five launches in two-and-a-half months (September 25 – December 4), with launches coming every two weeks since early November. The last launch of the year will continue this momentum, as Arianespace will use a Soyuz rocket to launch the CSO-1 spacecraft for the French defense procurement agency DGA (Direction générale de l'armement) and the French space agency CNES.

Shortly after the orbital injection of the GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellites, Stéphane Israël, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace, said: "With this 10th launch of the year, Arianespace is glad to support two major space agencies: ISRO of India and KARI of South Korea. We are very honored by the renewed confidence of ISRO. GSAT-11 is the heaviest communications satellite ever built by the agency, and the first to be carried in the upper position on Ariane 5.

We are also very proud to launch the GEO-KOMPSAT-2A weather satellite, in our second mission for the Korean space agency KARI. My congratulations to these agencies for the construction of these advanced satellites, which will help reduce the digital divide in India and improve Korean weather forecasts.

Today's launch marks the latest mission for a better life on Earth, and we are both pleased and proud to have performed it in the presence of the Chairman of ISRO, Dr. K Sivan; of the Vice President of KARI, Mr. Sang Ryool Lee. This launch also took place in the presence of Mr. François Garay, Mayor of Les Mureaux and President of the Community of Ariane Cities in 2018, whom we thank for his constant support.

"I would like to thank all of our partners in this latest success, which confirms the exceptional reliability of Ariane 5: ArianeGroup's teams and all companies involved in the construction of Ariane, ESA, CNES, our ground segment companies and all staff at the launch base. And congratulations to everybody at Arianespace for this perfect penultimate launch of the year and for maintaining such a sustained and successful rapid pace."

GSAT-11

The GSAT-11 satellite was built by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) on the new-generation I-6K satellite bus.

Positioned at 74° East in geostationary orbit, it will provide Ku- and Ka-band communications services in both forward and return links.

The satellite weighed 5,854.6 kg. at launch and it offers a design life of 15 years.

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A

The GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellite was built by KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute) at its facility in Daejeon, South Korea.

Positioned at 128.2° East, it will cover the Asia-Pacific region.

The satellite weighed 3,507.2 kg. at launch, and it offers a design life exceeding 10 years.

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GSAT-11 - India's largest and heaviest communication satellite

SciNews

Опубликовано: 4 дек. 2018 г.

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Décollage d'Ariane 5 - Lancement VA246

CNES CSG

Опубликовано: 4 дек. 2018 г.

(1:11)

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GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellites separation

SciNews

Опубликовано: 4 дек. 2018 г.

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Successful Mission Arianespace Flight VA246– GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A

arianespace

Опубликовано: 4 дек. 2018 г.

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Official Speeches Arianespace Flight VA246– GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A

arianespace

Опубликовано: 4 дек. 2018 г.

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Запись трансляции Arianespace (на англ. яз.)

Arianespace Flight VA246– GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A (EN)

arianespace

Трансляция началась 4 часа назад

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Франкоязычная версия - (1:41:54)

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https://spacenews.com/arianespace-launches-two-asian-satellites-on-ariane-5-rocket/

Arianespace launches two Asian satellites on Ariane 5 rocket
by Caleb Henry — December 4, 2018


Arianespace's VA246 Ariane 5 mission lifts off from the Guiana Space Centre in South America Dec. 4, 2018. Credit: Arianespace

WASHINGTON — Arianespace completed its final Ariane 5 launch of 2018 and penultimate overall mission for the year on Dec. 4, carrying a satellite for India and another for South Korea to geostationary transfer orbit.

The Ariane 5 lifted off from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana along the South American coast at 3:37 p.m. Eastern. The Indian Space Research Organisation's GSAT-11 telecom satellite detached from the rocket's upper stage 29 minutes later, followed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute's GEO-Kompsat-2A weather satellite another four and a half minutes later.

The mission was Arianespace of Evry, France's sixth Ariane 5 mission of the year and 10th cumulative launch for 2018.

ISRO's GSAT-11 satellite was originally scheduled to launch in May, but the Indian space agency called off the mission to inspect the satellite — the largest ever built in India — for mistakes. As a result, GSAT-11's original co-passenger, the Intelsat-38/Azerspace-2 condo-sat, was forced to reschedule for another Ariane 5 mission that took place Sept. 25.

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Intelsat of Luxembourg and Tysons Corner, Virginia, paired the condo-sat with another of its satellites, the Horizons-3e joint venture satellite it co-owns with Sky Perfect JSAT of Japan, to right its own launch plans.

ISRO Chairman K Sivan, in a speech following the launch, acknowledged the difficulty caused by the missed May launch and expressed gratitude for Arianespace's ability to still launch GSAT-11 this year.

"I must specifically thank Arianespace for this great grace you have given to us," he said.

ISRO has its own launch vehicles, but has consistently relied on Arianespace to orbit satellites too heavy for the agency's own launchers.

GSAT-11 is a 5,850-kilogram telecom satellite designed to cover the Indian mainland and nearby islands with 32 Ku-band user spot beams. The satellite has 16 gigabits per second of total throughput — a smaller amount than most high-throughput satellites (Thaicom's IPstar, launched in 2005, has 45 Gbps of capacity).

GSAT-11 also has eight spot beams in Ka-band to connect with ground segment hubs. The satellite has a design life of 15 years.

KARI's GEO-Kompsat-2A is the first in a pair of civilian geostationary weather satellites.

Sang Ryool Lee, KARI vice president, said the 3,500-kilogram satellite took more than seven years to develop.

"The launch today marked the successful end of GEO-Kompsat-2A development and also the hopeful start of better Korea weather service," he said.

GEO-Kompsat-2A has a design life of 10 years. Stéphane Israël, Arianespace CEO, said the second satellite, GEO-Kompsat-2B, is scheduled to launch in one year, also on an Ariane 5.

Israël said Arianespace's final launch of the year will be a Soyuz mission in the coming weeks of CSO-1, a reconnaissance satellite for the French military.

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Обнаружен 1-й объект запуска

Код Выделить Развернуть

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43823U 18100A   18338.95185269 -.00000034  00000-0  00000+0 0  9995
2 43823   3.5809 206.9657 7279767 179.0933  65.5973  2.27722789    0043823 / 2018-100A : 260 x 35792 km x 3.581°

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https://tass.ru/kosmos/5871457

4 ДЕК, 23:59
Ракету Ariane-5 запустили с космодрома Куру

ПАРИЖ, 4 декабря. /ТАСС/. Европейская ракета-носитель тяжелого класса Ariane-5 успешно стартовала во вторник вечером с космодрома Гвианского космического центра (ГКЦ) во Французской Гвиане. Она должна вывести на орбиту Земли индийский спутник связи GSAT-11 и южнокорейский метеорологический спутник GEO-KOMPSAT-2A.

Как сообщает компания Arianespace, спутники были успешно выведены на околоземную орбиту. Время полета составило около 33 минут.

GSAT-11 - крупный геостационарный спутник связи массой около 6 т. Он был разработан и произведен Индийской организацией космических исследований (ISRO) на основе платформы I-6K. Как отмечает Arianespace, аппарат позволит "сократить цифровой разрыв на индийском субконтиненте", и будет работать в Ku- и Ka-диапазоне. Срок его службы оценивается более, чем в 15 лет.

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A - продукт космической программы Республики Корея, который станет седьмым по счету для этой страны и вторым для Корейского аэрокосмического института (KARI). Аппарат имеет массу 3,5 т и предназначен для метеорологических наблюдений, а также мониторинга космической погоды. Он также будет работать на геостационарной орбите, срок его службы должен составить более 10 лет.

Как отмечает Arianespace, для нее это уже 10-й запуск в 2018 году, из них шесть были осуществлены при помощи ракеты-носителя Ariane-5. В общей же сложности это 102-я миссия Ariane-5.

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https://www.isro.gov.in/update/05-dec-2018/india's-heaviest-communication-satellite-gsat-11-launched-successfully-french

Dec 05, 2018

India's heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 launched successfully from French Guiana

Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) heaviest and most-advanced high throughput communication satellite GSAT-11 was successfully launched from the Spaceport in French Guiana during the early hours today.

The launch vehicle Ariane 5 VA-246 lifted off from Kourou Launch Base, French Guiana at 02:07 am (IST) carrying India's GSAT-11 and South Korea's GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellites, as scheduled. Ariane 5 is one of three launch vehicles operated by Arianespace along with Soyuz and Vega.

After a 30-min flight, GSAT-11 separated from the Ariane 5 upper stage in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. The achieved orbit was very close to the intended one.

The 5854-kg GSAT-11 will provide high data rate connectivity to users of Indian mainland and islands through 32 user beams in Ku-band and 8 hub beams in Ka-band.

"GSAT-11 will boost the broadband connectivity to rural and inaccessible Gram Panchayats in the country coming under the Bharat Net Project, which is part of Digital India Programme," ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said.

The Bharat Net Project aims to enhance the public welfare schemes like e-banking, e-health, e-governance among others.

He said GSAT-11 will act as a forerunner to all future high throughput communication satellites. "Today's successful mission has boosted the confidence of the entire team," Dr Sivan added.

Post-separation, ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of GSAT-11 and found its health parameters normal.

The scientists will undertake phase-wise orbit-raising manoeuvres in the days ahead to place the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) using its on-board propulsion systems. GSAT-11 will be positioned at 74-degree east longitude in the geostationary orbit.

Subsequently, the two solar arrays and four antenna reflectors of GSAT-11 will be deployed in orbit. The satellite will be operational after the successful completion of all in-orbit tests.

In the last 21 days, ISRO successfully completed three satellite and two launch vehicle missions.

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НОРАД внёс в каталог ещё три объекта запуска

Код Выделить Развернуть

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43824U 18100B   18339.02429706 -.00000028  00000-0  00000+0 0  9995
2 43824   3.5154 207.7381 7282036 178.2267 125.3652  2.28400651    02

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43825U 18100C   18339.00348343 -.00000030  00000-0  00000+0 0  9994
2 43825   3.4933 208.1291 7284163 177.8305 108.1272  2.28128520    02

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43826U 18100D   18338.92497539 -.00000037  00000-0  00000+0 0  9994
2 43826   3.5577 207.6228 7263753 178.4506  43.7863  2.28631399    07 43824 / 2018-100B : 242 x 35714 km x 3.515°
43825 / 2018-100C : 242 x 35752 km x 3.493°
43826 / 2018-100D : 282 x 35641 km x 3.558°

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/12/04/ariane-5-launches-indias-biggest-satellite-south-korean-weather-observer/

Ariane 5 launches India's biggest satellite, South Korean weather observer
December 4, 2018 | Stephen Clark


An Ariane 5 rocket launched fr om the Guiana Space Center in South America at 2037 GMT (3:37 p.m. EST) Tuesday carrying the GSAT 11 and GEO-Kompsat 2A satellites into orbit. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Piron

An Ariane 5 rocket fired off a launch pad in French Guiana Tuesday with nearly 3 million pounds of thundering thrust, heading to orbit with India's heaviest satellite designed to expand broadband coverage across the South Asian nation, and a South Korean weather satellite carrying an U.S.-built imager to track storms and cyclones across the Asia-Pacific.

The two-stage rocket, with a hydrogen-fueled core and two solid rocket boosters, lifted off at 2037 GMT (3:37 p.m. EST; 5:37 p.m. French Guiana time) Tuesday fr om the ELA-3 launch zone at the Guiana Space Center, a European-run spaceport on the northeastern shore of South America.

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After a problem-free countdown, the Ariane 5 lit its Vulcain 2 main engine, waited seven seconds for the powerplant to throttle up and run though a computer-controlled health check, then ignited the pair of solid-fueled boosters and vaulted off the pad, climbing through partly cloudy skies and breaking the sound barrier in less than a minute.

The 179-foot-tall (54.8-meter) rocket arced toward the east over the Atlantic Ocean, jettisoned its two spend booster casings nearly two-and-a-half minutes into the flight, then released its clamshell-like Swiss-made nose cone about a minute later.

The Vulcain 2 main engine shut down and the first stage separated around nine minutes after liftoff, and a cryogenic HM7B upper stage engine fired for a nearly 16-minute burn to inject the GSAT 11 and GEO-Kompsat 2A satellites into an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit, ranging from around 155 miles (250 kilometers) above Earth to a maximum altitude of approximately 22,220 miles (35,760 kilometers).

GSAT 11 separated from the launcher first, around 29 minutes into the mission, followed a few minutes later by deployment of GEO-Kompsat 2A.

Both satellites — developed by the Indian Space Research Organization and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute — are destined for geostationary orbit, a position more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator, wh ere the spacecraft will circle the planet at the same rate as Earth's rotation.

The orbit is favorable for communications and weather observation because it allows satellites to remain over a fixed geographic area 24 hours a day.

Arianespace, the French company charged with overseeing Ariane 5 commercial operations, declared the mission a success.

"With this 10th launch of the year, Arianespace is glad to support two major space agencies: ISRO of India and KARI of South Korea," said Stephane Israel, CEO of Arianespace. "We are very honored by the renewed confidence of ISRO. GSAT 11 is the heaviest communications satellite ever built by the agency, and the first to be carried in the upper position on Ariane 5. We are also very proud to launch the GEO-Kompsat 2A weather satellite, in our second mission for the Korean space agency KARI. My congratulations to these agencies for the construction of these advanced satellites, which will help reduce the digital divide in India and improve Korean weather forecasts."

Tuesday's launch was the sixth Ariane 5 flight of the year, a campaign that began with the off-target deployment of the SES 14 and Al Yah 3 commercial communications satellites Jan. 25. Investigators blamed that incident, which ended a streak of 82 straight flawless Ariane 5 launches since 2003, on a programming error in the rocket's guidance system.

The Ariane 5 flew as designed according to the wrong navigation targets, and both satellites separated in unexpected orbits. SES 14 and Al Yah 3 recovered from the orbital injection error, requiring them to consume additional on-board propellant to do so, and are now in commercial service.

Since then, the Ariane 5 has accomplished five consecutive successes, including commercial communications satellite launches, the deployment of a quartet of European Galileo navigation payloads in July, and the launch of the European Space Agency's BepiColombo mission to Mercury in October. Arianespace also conducted the 100th Ariane 5 launch overall in September.

Arianespace is ending the year with a series of launches from the space base in Kourou, Frenh Guiana, approximately every two-to-three weeks using the company's family of Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega rockets. After successful launches Sept. 25, Oct. 19, Nov. 6, Nov. 20 and Dec. 4 — using all three of the company's launchers — one more mission is left on the manifest this year.

The first in a new generation of French government spy satellites is set for launch Dec. 18 on top of a Russian-built Soyuz rocket from French Guiana. The Composante Spatiale Optique satellites are the successors of France's Helios reconnaissance satellites, providing high-resolution global imagery to French intelligence agencies and military leaders.

Indian and Korean space agencies served with Ariane 5 launch

The GSAT 11 communications satellite was the bigger of the two payloads launched aboard Ariane 5 on Tuesday. With a launch weight of 12,906 pounds (5,854 kilograms), GSAT 11 was built at ISRO's satellite development center and is the heaviest spacecraft ever manufactured in the country, using India's new I-6K satellite bus design.

GSAT 11 was supposed to launch on an Ariane 5 rocket in May, but ISRO decided to return the satellite from the launch base in French Guiana to India for additional inspections after a different communications spacecraft failed soon after a launch on an Indian rocket in March.

ISRO's decision caused GSAT 11 to miss its launch slot in Arianespace's manifest, and it forced the French-headquartered commercial launch provider to re-plan its Ariane 5 manifest this year.


An illustration of the GSAT 11 satellite. Credit: ISRO

Ariane 5 rockets typically launch with two large communications satellite at a time on missions toward geostationary orbit, allowing different customers to share launch costs. GSAT 11's original co-passenger — the Azerspace 2/Intelsat 38 communications satellite — was ready for a launch in late May, but had to wait until September for an Ariane 5 flight, when a new co-passenger became ready.

ISRO declared GSAT 11 ready for launch, and the satellite arrived back in French Guiana on Oct. 26 aboard a cargo plane for final launch preparations.

The high-power GSAT 11 spacecraft carries Ku-band and Ka-band relay payloads, and is designed to provide broadband connectivity across India and neighboring regions, offering major capacity upgrades over India's existing communications satellites.

GSAT 11 will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 74 degrees east longitude over the equator for its 15-year mission. It was India's 22nd satellite launched by Arianespace in a relationship dating back to 1981.

South Korea's GEO-Kompsat 2A weather satellite launched in the lower berth of the Ariane 5's dual-payload adapter structure.

The 7,732-pound (3,507-kilogram) GEO-Kompsat 2A spacecraft is South Korea's first dedicated geostationary weather satellite, following the launch in 2010 of a multipurpose geostationary spacecraft with meteorological, communications and marine surveillance payloads.

GEO-Kompsat 2A is heading for a geostationary orbital slot 128.2 degrees east longitude, wh ere it will take position for 10-year mission surveying weather systems, cyclones and other phenomena across the Asia-Pacific region.

Built at KARI's facility in Daejeon, South Korea, the GEO-Kompsat 2A satellite carries the Advanced Meteorological Imager, a 16-channel camera built by Harris Corp. in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The imaging instrument is similar to Harris-built cameras flying on NOAA's new generation of U.S. GOES geostationary weather satellites, and Japan's Himawari meteorological observatories.

"South Korea is frequently threatened by typhoons and needs improved forecast accuracy to help protect lives and property," said Eric Webster, vice president and general manager, Harris Environmental Solutions, in a statement last year when the instrument was delivered to South Korea. "More detailed information about clouds, moisture and water vapor will make it easier to track the formation of storms. The imager can also distinguish between volcanic ash, smoke and dust, which can impact airlines by causing flight delays and cancellations."


Artist's concept of the GEO-Kompsat 2A satellite. Credit: KARI

The new imaging capability enabled by GEO-Kompsat 2A satellite and Harris-built camera will give forecasters three times the imaging channels and speed of observation offered by South Korea's previous weather satellites, according to Harris.

The South Korean government is funding development of two new geostationary environmental satellites. While GEO-Kompsat 2A is for operational forecasting, the GEO-Kompsat 2B satellite is designed for maritime observations and pollution monitoring after its launch on another Ariane 5 flight next year.

The South Korean government's budget for the two-satellite program is roughly 720 billion won, or $650 million, officials said in 2015 when they announced Arianespace's contracts to launch the two spacecraft.

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https://www.isro.gov.in/update/08-dec-2018/orbit-raising-manoeuvres-have-been-performed-gsat-11

Dec 08, 2018

Orbit raising manoeuvres have been performed on GSAT-11

After the successful launch of GSAT-11 into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by Ariane 5 VA246 vehicle on December 05, 2018, three orbit raising manoeuvres have been performed by firing the satellite's onboard propulsion system for a cumulative duration of more than four hours. Consequently, the orbit of GSAT-11 with a perigee (nearest point to earth) of 32,657 km and an apogee (farthest point to earth) of 35,850 km, is very close to its designated Orbit. One more manoeuvre will be performed tomorrow (December 09, 2018 ) to achieve the operational circular geostationary orbit of 35,786 km.