Eutelsat Communications Satellite The 525th Spacecraft To Be Launched By The Company

The numbers continue to add up for Arianespace following Wednesday's early morning Ariane 5 mission that orbited the EUTELSAT 65 West A relay satellite – extending to 71 the heavy-lift vehicle’s streak of consecutive successes, while achieving other numerical milestones for the company as well.

Lifting off exactly on time from the ELA-3 launch zone at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, Ariane 5 deployed its passenger at the conclusion of a 27-minute flight sequence. For this launch, EUTELSAT 65 West A had the distinction of being a single telecommunications satellite on a dedicated Ariane 5 flight – compared to the typical dual-payload configuration for this launcher on missions to geostationary transfer orbit.

Making the mission all the more special was EUTELSAT 65 West A’s status as the milestone 525th satellite overall to be launched by Arianespace, as well as its being the 31st orbited by the company on behalf of Paris-based Eutelsat Communications. Both were points of emphasis during post-launch comments by Arianespace Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël, who spoke via satellite from National Harbor, Maryland, where he is participating in the on-going Satellite 2016 conference and exhibition.

"We fully enjoyed this,” said Rodolphe Belmer, who earlier in the month succeeded Michel de Rosen as Eutelsat’s Chief Executive Officer. “It was for me the first launch as CEO of Eutelsat, so as you could imagine, it was a very intense moment – and a great success.”

EUTELSAT 65 West A will serve expanding markets in Brazil and across Latin America.

Designated VA229, Arianespace’s mission with EUTELSAT 65 West A was the second performed this year as part of the company’s busy launch manifest for 2016 – following the year-opening Ariane 5 success that orbited Intelsat 29e on January 27. Arianespace is targeting as many as 12 missions during the year using its full launcher family, which includes the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and lightweight Vega vehicles. In performing its first two missions by early March, Arianespace also is well-positioned to achieve its goal of eight total launches in 2016 with Ariane 5.

The company’s next mission is scheduled for April 22, when Soyuz will deliver another spacecraft for the European Commission’s Copernicus program – Sentinel-1B – accompanied by auxiliary payloads.

(Image provided with Arianespace news release)

FMI: www.arianespace.com