Arianespace successfully orbited two communications satellites today (October 5) from the Spaceport in French Guiana: Intelsat 11 for the international operator Intelsat, and Optus D2 for the Australian operator Optus. Both satellites were built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, and were carried on an Arianespace Ariane 5 GS vehicle. This was 34th flight of an Ariane 5, and the 20th success in a row for the workhorse launcher.
Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall noted today's mission occurred just six months after Washington, D.C.-based Intelsat signed the launch services contract for Intelsat 11, confirming Arianespace's ability to respond to the needs of its customers.
Following this latest success, Arianespace continues to hold the largest order book in the launch services industry – representing a three-year workload. Le Gall said Arianespace has 27 satellites booked for missions to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), plus 11 Ariane 5 institutional launches and 10 Soyuz flights.
Arianespace is maintaining its busy launch pace, as two additional Ariane 5 missions are planned before the end of 2007 from the Spaceport in French Guiana. The next flight is set for November 9th, using a heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA to orbit the United Kingdom's Skynet 5B military communications satellite and Brazil's STAR ONE C1 telecom platform.
Prior to the November 9 mission, Arianespace's Starsem affiliate will utilize a Soyuz vehicle from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome to orbit four Globalstar constellation satellites on October 21.
