Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

European heavy-lift launch vehicle Ariane 5 successfully lifted off from the spaceport of the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana on September 25 evening.

Thus, Azerbaijani telecommunications satellite Azerspace 2/Intelsat 38 was launched into orbit, together with Horizons 3e, satellite of the joint venture of Intelsat and the Japanese operator Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation.

The launch, which became the 100th mission for Ariane 5, was carried out at 19:38 local time. Its live broadcast was made by the Arianespace satellite launch company.

Work on the Ariane rocket family was initiated by France in the 1970s. The current fifth generation of this carrier belongs to the heavy class. The launches of heavy-lift vehicles have been carried out from the spaceport of the Guiana Space Center since 1996. Of the 100 Ariane 5 starts, 96 were successful.

The second telecommunications satellite of Azerbaijan will be placed in a geostationary orbit 45 degrees east longitude and its lifetime in orbit will be 15 years.

Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 is designed to provide a number of telecommunication services and it will serve two operators – Azercosmos and Intelsat. For Azercosmos the satellite will provide DTH (Direct-to-Home) broadcasting services in Europe, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and for Intelsat it will ensure service continuity from the orbital position of 45 degrees, and the delivery of DTH services in Central and Eastern Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the provision of communication services in Africa.

The new satellite worth $190 million is projected to bring $400-million revenue to Azerbaijan’s economy.

Azerspace-1, the nation’s first satellite, was launched into orbit on February 8, 2013. At present, its service area includes countries of Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The Azerbaijani satellite provides a variety of services, such as digital television, data transmission, VSAT multi-service networks, and governmental communications. The total cost of the Azerspace-1 project was $230 million.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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