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A European Ariane 5 rocket was launched from French Guiana on Friday, making its first flight in nearly a year to deploy a pair of geostationary telecommunications satellites for commercial operators in Brazil and France.
The launch was a key test of the Ariane 5 rocket before a flight later this year to send the James Webb Space Telescope to its observation post nearly a million kilometers from Earth. The European Space Agency is launching JWST, a joint program between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency at a cost of more than $ 10 billion.
Engineers made modifications to the Ariane 5 payload fairing, or nose cone, to reduce vibrations transmitted to the satellites during the fairing separation, which protects the payloads during the first minutes of flight in the atmosphere.
Ground crews will analyze data from the rocket to make sure the changes have reduced vibrations. Another Ariane 5 launch is scheduled for late September, then JWST will be the next in line for take-off in November or December.
The Ariane 5 is one of the most powerful rockets in the world. Friday’s mission marked the 110th flight of an Ariane 5 rocket since 1996, but it was the first Ariane 5 launch since last August, an unusually long gap between missions for engineers to fix the vibration problem. of the fairing before the launch of JWST.
Technicians at a Northrop Grumman facility in Southern California are preparing the observatory – the largest space telescope ever used – for its expedition by ship to the Guyana Space Center.
But first, the Ariane 5 team had to successfully launch two commercial communications satellites on Friday.
Thomas Zurbuchen, chief scientist at NASA, attended the launch in French Guiana on Friday. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in an interview Thursday that the agency sent Zurbuchen to the Guyana Space Center to verify preparations for the JWST launch.
“We sent Dr Thomas Zurbuchen to French Guiana as it seems the only issue we would see with James Webb would be whether these two Arianes flying before JWST, if they take off safely and on time,” said Nelson. . “And we wanted Dr. Zt to go over there and check it all out, so he’ll report what he sees to us.”
The Ariane 5 rocket, measuring nearly 180 feet (55 meters) high, took off from the European spaceport in South America at 5:00 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT; 6:00 p.m. French Guiana time) with Embratel’s Star One D2 spacecraft. and the Eutelsat Quantum Satellite.
A hydrogen powered Vulcain 2 main engine and two solid rocket thrusters propelled the launcher off the platform. Ariane 5’s guidance computer placed the rocket on a path east of French Guiana, and the rocket lost its exhausted booster boxes nearly two and a half minutes after the mission began.
About a minute later, ground controllers confirmed the separation of the Ariane 5 payload fairing.
The main stage engine burned for nearly nine minutes, then jerked off and fell into the Atlantic Ocean, near Africa. A cryogenic upper stage ignited to complete the work of putting the Star One D2 and Eutelsat Quantum satellites into orbit.
Arianespace, the French launch services company, confirmed good orbital injection and separation of the two satellites less than 40 minutes after takeoff.
Star One D2 is a versatile communications satellite covering Latin America for Brazil’s Embratel. Built by Maxar in Palo Alto, Calif., The spacecraft was in the top stack position of two satellites inside the Ariane 5 payload fairing.
Fully powered, the satellite weighed 13,646 pounds (6,190 kilograms) at launch, according to Arianespace. The spacecraft carries transponders operating in frequencies in the Ku, Ka, C and X bands, enabling it to perform multiple missions from its perch in geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) above the sea. ‘equator.
Embratel says the new satellite, designed for a 15-year lifespan, will allow it to extend broadband coverage to new areas of Central and South America, support broadcast television programs and to provide connection capability for mobile phones. The satellite’s X-band payload will be used by the Brazilian military.
Maxar said in a statement after the launch on Friday that the Star One D2 satellite was performing as expected after the separation from the Ariane 5 rocket. The spacecraft deployed its solar panels and began communicating with mission control through stations at the ground.
Star One D2 will execute several thruster shots over the next few weeks to exit the elongated transfer orbit in which the Ariane 5 rocket has placed it. The satellite will target a circular geostationary orbit, where its speed will match the rate of rotation of the Earth, and enter service at 70 degrees west latitude.
“Maxar is proud of our geostationary satellite partnership with Embratel over the years,” said Chris Johnson, senior vice president of space program delivery at Maxar. “Our team members completed the construction of Star One D2 during the global pandemic, which added new and unusual working conditions to keep everyone safe. They persevered and delivered the satellite, and we are now focusing on its in-orbit commissioning activities.
The Eutelsat Quantum probe, built by Airbus in France, went into orbit in a low position inside the Ariane 5 payload fairing.
Developed as part of a public-private partnership between ESA, Airbus and Eutelsat, the spacecraft will launch a new software design that will allow the satellite to be completely reprogrammed in orbit.
The innovation is a first for a European satellite and will give Eutelsat the flexibility to reuse the Quantum spacecraft to meet changing market demands over its 15-year lifespan.
Like Star One D2, the 7,630-pound (3,461-kilogram) Eutelsat Quantum spacecraft will head into geostationary orbit after separating from the upper stage of the Ariane 5 rocket. Its service location will be at 48 degrees. east longitude.
The satellite will operate in Ku-band with eight independent reconfigurable beams, allowing Eutelsat to adjust the spacecraft’s throughput and coverage areas to meet evolving business needs.
“Its beams can be redirected to travel in near real time to provide information to passengers on board moving ships or planes,” ESA said in a statement. “The beams can also be easily adjusted to provide more data when demand increases. The satellite can detect and characterize all unwanted emissions, allowing it to respond dynamically to accidental interference or intentional interference. “
Pascal Homsy, technical director of Eutelsat, said ground crews had established contact with Eutelsat Quantum after the launch on Friday evening.
“Eutelsat Quantum is, indeed, a game changer,” Homsy said after the launch. “It’s a satellite of a new era, a flexible satellite that can be controlled in orbit from the ground using software. This is a big advantage for our customers, so the coverage and power, spectrum and capacity are going to be reconfigurable at any time. ‘
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