Ariane 5 Rocket Finally Brings Communication Services to Space After Nearly a Year

After almost a year-long break, Europe's Ariane 5 rocket blazed back into operation on Friday (July 30).

SpaceNews said the rocket launched from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. It delivered two communications satellites into orbit at 5 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. local time in Kourou). Both satellites were deployed 40 minutes earlier than expected.

Ariane 5 to Provide Broadband Coverage to Central, South America

Embratel, a Brazilian telecom corporation, will operate one of the satellites, Star One D2. Arianespace, which uses the Ariane 5, explained in a mission description that Embratel would be ready to broaden internet service to new areas in Central and South America, thanks to Star One D2. It will also give internet connectivity to underprivileged communities and an upgraded X-band payload for government usage across the Atlantic.

Arianespace added in the same mission description that the other satellite launching today, Eutelsat Quantum, had an existing antenna. The said feature is something new for the European commercial telecommunications industry, Arianespace mentioned. This novel antenna technology supports the operator's ability to modify its spacecraft's coverage, frequency, and power with new generation completely digital payloads.

Eutelsat Quantum was created in collaboration with the European Space Agency, Airbus Defence and Space, and the French firm Eutelsat. Eutelsat will be in charge of its operation.

SatNews said Star One D2 and Eutelsat Quantum's combined weight is 10,515 kilograms or 23,182 pounds. Both satellites were launched into geostationary transfer orbits today. They'll ultimately sink into geostationary orbit, roughly 35,700 kilometers or 22,200 miles above Earth when their orbital period coincides with the rotational cycle of the planet. Many communications satellites orbit in this location, allowing correctly positioned ground-based antennas to maintain continual contact with them.

Ariane 5 to Be Busy in the Coming Months

The launch today was the first by an Ariane 5 since August 2020. Last year, the powerful rocket had problems with the mechanism that permits separation of its payload fairing, the protective "nose cone" surrounding satellites during launch, on two separate missions. Both missions were successful. Still, SpaceNews said Arianespace momentarily placed Ariane 5 on hold to make sure it understood and minimized the problem.

In the coming months, the Ariane 5 will be quite busy. In September, the rocket will take off again on a mission to launch another set of communications satellites. Then, in November or December, NASA's $9.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope, the replacement of the Hubble Space Telescope, will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket.

As a result, NASA was quite interested in today's trip. Thomas Zurbuchen, the agency's Science Mission Directorate director, flew to Kourou to see it firsthand.

"Beautiful morning on launch day at Europe's space port in Kourou! Looking forward to the day with @esa, @Arianespace and partners, while thinking of another launch later this year! @NASAWebb," Zurbuchen tweeted.

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