{"id":12716,"date":"2020-01-16T20:25:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T12:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/new-european-satellite-design-to-debut-on-ariane-5-launch-thursday\/"},"modified":"2020-01-16T20:25:34","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T12:25:34","slug":"new-european-satellite-design-to-debut-on-ariane-5-launch-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/new-european-satellite-design-to-debut-on-ariane-5-launch-thursday\/","title":{"rendered":"New European satellite design to debut on Ariane 5 launch Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Ariane 5 rocket with the Eutelsat Konnect and GSAT 30 communications satellites rolled to its launch pad in French Guiana on Wednesday. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A broadband communications satellite for Paris-based Eutelsat \u2014 built on a new Thales Alenia Space all-electric design with xenon plasma thrusters \u2014 and an Indian broadcasting spacecraft are fastened to the top of an Ariane 5 launcher for liftoff Thursday from French Guiana.<\/p>\n

Liftoff is scheduled during a launch window opening at 4:05 p.m. EST (2105 GMT) and closing at 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT) Thursday.<\/p>\n

The mission will mark the 107th flight of an Ariane 5 rocket since 1996, and the 251st flight of a launcher in the European Ariane family since 1979. It will be the first of up to 22 launches this year for Arianespace, the French launch services provider, using Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega boosters from launch sites in French Guiana, Kazakhstan and Russia.<\/p>\n

After lifting off from the tropical space base on the northeastern coast of South America Thursday, the Ariane 5 will deliver the Eutelsat Konnect and GSAT 30 satellites to an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit ranging between 155 miles (250 kilometers) and 22,220 miles (35,761 kilometers), with an orbit tilted 6 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n

Separation of the two satellites from the Ariane 5 launcher\u2019s upper stage is planned around a half-hour after liftoff.<\/p>\n

Each satellite will use its own propulsion to circularize its orbit at geostationary altitude more than 22,000 miles over the equator, where their velocities will match the rate of Earth\u2019s rotation, giving each spacecraft a fixed geographic coverage zone.<\/p>\n

The Eutelsat Konnect satellite is the largest of the two payloads on Thursday\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

Built by Thales Alenia Space, the Eutelsat Konnect spacecraft will provide broadband connectivity over Europe and Africa during a mission slated to last at least 15 years.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Eutelsat Konnect satellite during launch preparations at the Guiana Space Center in South America. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 G. Barbaste<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eutelsat Konnect is the first spacecraft built on the new Spacebus Neo satellite bus, which was developed by Thales with funding from the European Space Agency and the French government, including the French space agency, CNES.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating Spacebus Neo, a completely new product line, and in parallel meeting the schedule of the first satellite Konnect has been quite a challenge, which Thales Alenia Space and its consortium have brilliantly mastered,\u201d said Magali Vaissiere, director of ESA\u2019s telecommunications programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has only been possible through the successful cooperation between Thales Alenia Space and the agencies ESA and CNES, who have co-managed this project, the excellent coordination with Eutelsat, and the continued support of our European member states.<\/p>\n

ESA helped fund development through the space agency\u2019s Neosat program, which aims to develop new European satellite designs with reduced cost and increased capabilities, ensuring Europe\u2019s large satellite manufacturing base remains competitive in the global market.<\/p>\n

ESA\u2019s Neosat program supported the development of new satellite platforms by Thales and Airbus Defense and Space. Eutelsat, the largest commercial European satellite operator, agreed to be the first customer for both of the new satellite designs.<\/p>\n

The Thales Spacebus Neo satellite platform will debut with Thursday\u2019s launch, and the Airbus Eurostar Neo platform will launch for the first time in 2021.<\/p>\n

The Spacebus Neo platform features an all-electric propulsion system with xenon-fueled ion thrusters to perform all the satellite\u2019s post-launch maneuvers.<\/p>\n

The low-thrust, high-efficiency xenon jets mean it will take several months for the Eutelsat Konnect satellite to reach its final operating station in geostationary orbit, but the all-electric propulsion system comes with major benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cEutelsat Konnect is the first satellite to use the Spacebus Neo electric propulsion platform from Thales Alenia Space,\u201d said Peter Newell, Eutelsat Konnect\u2019s program manager at Eutelsat. \u201cSatellites using electric propulsion provide effective solutions for satellite operators, allowing them to maximize the payload capability of the satellite while maintaining a low overall spacecraft mass.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the first of its kind, there have many challenges during the development, qualification, manufacturing and test phases, but thanks to the skill and expertise of the Thales, Eutelsat and ESA\/CNES teams, the satellite has been brought conception to today\u2019s launch in just four years, which is a great achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Eutelsat Konnect spacecraft, which rides in the upper position of the Ariane 5 launcher\u2019s payload bay, weighs 7,978 pounds (3,619 kilograms) at liftoff, significantly less than a similarly-capable communications satellite that used conventional chemical hydrazine fuel.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Artist\u2019s concept of the Eutelsat Konnect satellite with its solar arrays deployed in orbit. Credit: Eutelsat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Spacebus Neo satellite platform joins other all-electric geostationary satellite buses currently flying from other satellite manufactures, including Boeing, Maxar and Northrop Grumman.<\/p>\n

The xenon propulsion package was developed by Thales teams in the United Kingdom, and the payload module comes from a facility in Toulouse, France. Final assembly of the Eutelsat Konnect satellite occurred at a Thales site in Cannes, France.<\/p>\n

Eutelsat Konnect is expected to enter commercial service this fall after the slow, multi-month orbit-raising campaign.<\/p>\n

The high-power satellite hosts a Ka-band communications payload with a total capacity of 75 gigabits per second, providing Internet services for individuals and companies in Europe and Africa. Eutelsat Konnect will also link with public WiFi hotspots in Africa to provide Internet service to mobile phones and other devices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to its 92 user beams with four deployable antennas, the satellite provides coverage to 15 countries in Europe and 45 countries in Africa,\u201d Newell said. \u201cIn bringing broadband Internet to Africa and Europe with state-of the-art satellite telecommunication technology, Eutelsat Konnect will make a major contribution in bridging the digital divide.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, Eutelsat Konnect will operate in both Europe and Africa combined, but thanks to the high flexibility\u2026 it will be possible in the future to reallocate all of the satellite capacity to the African market,\u201d Newell said.<\/p>\n

After releasing the Eutelsat Konnect spacecraft, the Ariane 5\u2019s upper stage will re-orient itself for separation of GSAT 30, the smaller of the two payloads on Thursday\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n

The 7,400-pound (3,357-kilogram) GSAT 30 spacecraft, built and operated by the Indian Space Research Organization, will replace the aging Insat 4A spacecraft, which launched in 2005 on a previous Ariane 5 mission.<\/p>\n

GSAT 30 will operate from a position in geostationary orbit at 83 degrees east longitude over the equator.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The GSAT 30 satellite during launch preparations at the Guiana Space Center in South America. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 G. Barbaste<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cGSAT 30 will provide continuity of direct-to-home TV services from this slot, as well as digital satellite news-gathering and very small aperture terminal services,\u201d said K. Sivan, ISRO\u2019s chairmen. \u201cThe Ku-band transponders will provide services over the Indian mainland and islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe satellite employs high-power amplifier and state-of-the-art antenna systems to meet the requirements of multiple users,\u201d Sivan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe GSAT 30 communications payload is equipped with 12 C-band transponder and 12 Ku-band trapsonders,\u201d said D.K. Das, director of ISRO\u2019s Satellite Applications Center. \u201cThe C-band transponders are designed for two-way communications using VSAT terminals over a vast geographic region extending up to Australia in the east and Europe in the west.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ariane 5 rocket with the Eutelsat Konnect and GSAT 30 communications satellites rolled to its launch pad in French Guiana on Wednesday. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon A broadband communications satellite for Paris-based Eutelsat \u2014 built on a new Thales Alenia Space all-electric design with xenon plasma thrusters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1540,1634,498,252,2386,831,1424,2387],"class_list":["post-12716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-ariane-5","tag-arianegroup","tag-arianespace","tag-broadband","tag-ela-3","tag-european-space-agency","tag-eutelsat","tag-eutelsat-konnect"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12716"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12716\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}