The first Ariane 5 heavy-lift mission of the year has delivered the Azerspace/Africasat-1a and Amazonas-3 telecom satellites into their planned transfer orbits. Liftoff of flight VA212 from Europes Spaceport in French Guiana came at 21:36 GMT (22:36 CET; 18:36 French Guiana) right at the opening of the launch window. The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 246.9 km, an apogee altitude of 35 895 km with an inclination of 6°. Read more
Amazonas 3 arrives in French Guiana for Arianespace's year-opening Ariane 5 launch
The HISPASAT Amazonas 3 satellite for Arianespaces first Ariane 5 mission of 2013 has arrived in French Guiana, marking the start of payload preparations for this year-opening dual-passenger flight from the Spaceport. Amazonas 3 was delivered by a chartered An-124 cargo jetliner, which touched down at Félix Eboué Airport near Cayenne, the capital city of French Guiana. Read more