Arabsat-5A is a Saudi Arabian

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

operated by Arabsat. It will be used to provide television, internet and telephone services to

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and Europe.

History

Arabsat-5A was constructed by

Astrium Astrium was a European aerospace company and subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), headquartered in Paris. It designed, developed and manufactured civil and military space systems and provided related services ...

, and is based on the Eurostar-3000

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

. It has a mass of , and carries forty transponders; sixteen broadcasting in the G/ H band of the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

-defined spectrum, or the C band of the IEEE-defined spectrum, and twenty four operating in the NATO J band or the IEEE K_u band. Its solar arrays are expected to generate around 12 kilowatts of power at the beginning of the satellite's design life, and around 11 kilowatts at the end of it. Arabsat-5A was launched by

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a Small-lift launch vehicle, small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a Medium-lift launch vehicl ...

using an Ariane 5ECA carrier rocket lifting off from

ELA-3 ELA-3 () is a launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. The complex was first used in June 1996 in support of the now retired Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespac ...

at the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

in Kourou,

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

. The first attempt to launch it occurred on 23 June 2010, however the launch was scrubbed due to a problem with one of the rocket's subsystems. A subsequent attempt on 24 June was also scrubbed, due to a problem with the pressurisation of the rocket's fuel tanks. The launch occurred at 21:41 UTC on 26 June 2010. The

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n COMS-1 satellite was launched by the same rocket, with a SYLDA adaptor being used to separate the spacecraft. Arabsat-5A was mounted atop the SYLDA, with COMS-1 underneath it. Following launch, Arabsat-5A separated into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. It then use an apogee motor to raise itself into

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular orbit, circular geosynchronous or ...

. Once it reached geostationary orbit, it underwent testing before beginning operations at a longitude of 30.5 degrees East, where it replaced Arabsat-2B. It is expected to operate for fifteen years.

References

External links

IMS
Official provider's site {{Use British English, date=January 2014 Spacecraft launched in 2010 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Ariane commercial payloads Satellites of Saudi Arabia 2010 in Saudi Arabia