Success
Eutelsat W2 & Sirius 3
Communications
Arianespace(ASA)CommercialAriane 44L
Direct-GEOorbit
The W satellites are designed to provide telecommunications services primarily over Europe (Eutelsat W2, W3 and W5) and communication services over Russia and Africa (W4). W2, W3 and W5 are designed to offer 24 transponders at saturation and W4 is designed to provide 31 transponders at saturation. The W satellites have a minimum operational lifetime of 12 years. The spacecraft are based on the Spacebus-3000B2 platform. Sirius 3 provides direct-to-home television services to the Scandinavian region. Hughes upgraded NSAB's satellite control center at Esrange, Kiruna, and provided training to the satellite controllers. Sirius 3 was successfully launched on an Ariane-44L H10-3 on October 5, 1998. The satellite was built at the Integrated Satellite Factory of in El Segundo, Calif.
Monday, October 5, 1998 at 10:51 PM
Mission details
Orbital Attempt
#4,268
ASA Mission
#109
Pad Launch
#84
Location Launch
#120
Designator
1998-056
Launch Window
NET
Oct 5, 1998, 10:51 PM
Schedule Changes
1 update
Ariane 44L Specs
The Ariane 4 was an expendable space launch system, developed by the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by Arianespace. Since its first flight on 15 June 1988 until the final flight on 15 February 2003, it attained 113 successful launches out of 116 total launches.
Length
58.7 m
Diameter
3.8 m
Launch Mass
484 t
Thrust
5,395 kN
LEO Capacity
10,200 kg
GTO Capacity
4,950 kg
Reusable
No
Maiden Flight
1989
Fastest Turnaround
18d 21h
Total Launches
40
Successful
39
Failed
1
Consecutive Success
37
Maiden flight: Jun 5, 1989
Arianespace
Arianespace SA is a multinational company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane programme. Their vehicles launch exclusively from French Guiana in South America.
Founded
1980
Administrator
CEO: David Cavaillolès
Total Launches
326
Successful
311
Failed
15
Pending
29
Consecutive Success
14
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
The Guiana Space Centre is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located at a latitude of 5°. In operation since 1968, it is a suitable location for a spaceport because of its equatorial location and open sea to the east.
Timezone
America/Cayenne
Local Launch Time
Oct 5, 1998, 7:51 PM
Total Launches
333
Total Landings
0
Coordinates
5.1690, -52.6903