KOUROU, French Guiana,---Early this morning, Arianespace orbited the Intelsat 905 communications satellite for international communications provider Intelsat.
Intelsat 905 is the fourth satellite to be launched in the Intelsat IX series by Arianespace, the new generation of satellite deployed by this global communications provider, and was the 21st Intelsat satellite to be launched by Ariane.
The collaboration between Arianespace and Intelsat reaches back to 1983. Sixty percent of the Intelsat satellites in operation today were orbited by the European launcher, making it Arianespace's largest customer.
The first series IX satellite, Intelsat 901, was launched by Arianespace on June 9, 2001 (Flight 141), followed by Intelsat 902 on August 30, 2001 (Flight 143) and Intelsat 904 on February 28, 2002 (Flight 148).
Two more Intelsat IX satellites are scheduled for an Arianespace launch.
Intelsat 905 is Arianespace's seventh successful launch in 2002 and the 71st successful Ariane 4 launch in a row.
The next Ariane launch is scheduled for the end of June.
The Intelsat 905 satellite Built by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California, the Intelsat 905 will be positioned at 335.5 degrees East. It will join Intelsat's fleet of satellites providing Internet connections, telephony, television and enterprise network services for the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle-East. Weighing 4,723 kg at liftoff, the Intelsat 905 is fitted with 76 C-band transponders and 22 Ku-band transponders (in 36 MHz unit equivalents) designed and built by Alcatel Space. Design life in orbit is over 13 years.
Arianespace is the commercial launch services leader, holding more than 50 percent of the international market for satellites launched to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). Created in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company, Arianespace has signed contracts for the launch of more than 240 satellite payloads. (ends)
