{"id":11443,"date":"2022-06-22T18:36:24","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T10:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ariane-5-rocket-deploys-satellites-for-malaysia-and-india\/"},"modified":"2022-06-22T18:36:24","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T10:36:24","slug":"ariane-5-rocket-deploys-satellites-for-malaysia-and-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ariane-5-rocket-deploys-satellites-for-malaysia-and-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Ariane 5 rocket deploys satellites for Malaysia and India"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A European Ariane 5 rocket lifts off from the Guiana Space Center with the MEASAT 3d and GSAT 24 satellites. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace\/JM Guillon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two multi-ton geostationary communications satellites for Malaysian and Indian operators launched on a European heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket Wednesday from French Guiana, leaving four Ariane 5s left to fly before retirement.<\/p>\n

With a roar from its hydrogen-fueled main engine and two solid rocket boosters, the heavy-lift rocket launched at 5:50 p.m. EDT (2150 GMT) Wednesday from the Guiana Space Center, a European-run spaceport on the northeastern coast of South America.<\/p>\n

The Malaysian-owned MEASAT 3d satellite and Indian GSAT 24 spacecraft were on-board the mission, heading for high-altitude positions to beam television programming and broadband signals across Asia.<\/p>\n

Liftoff occurred at 6:50 p.m. local time in French Guiana, where the Ariane 5 took off just after sunset. The launch was delayed 47 minutes to allow time for engineers to evaluate a technical concern discovered in the final stages of propellant loading in the countdown.<\/p>\n

That problem cleared, and the countdown clock resumed at the seven-minute mark, culminating in ignition of the Ariane 5 rocket\u2019s Vulcain 2 main engine. Seven seconds later, two powerful solid rocket boosters flashed to live with an orange glow, sending the 180-foot-tall (55-meter) rocket into a twilight sky.<\/p>\n

Heading east from French Guiana, the Ariane 5 surpassed the speed of sound in less than a minute. The main engine and boosters generated 2.9 million pounds of thrust at full power, until the solid-fueled motors jettisoned more than two minutes into the flight.<\/p>\n

The Ariane 5 then shed its Swiss-made payload fairing, or nose cone, after climbing into space. The core stage continued accelerating the rocket until nearly nine minutes after liftoff, then separated to fall into the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa.<\/p>\n