Launch Success for Hispasat 1E & Koreasat 6

 

29 December 2010

The mission was carried out by an Ariane 5 ECA launcher from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 6:27 pm local time in Kourou (4:27 pm in Washington, D.C., 21:27 UT, 10:27 pm in Paris and Madrid, and on Wednesday, December 30, at 6:27 am in Seoul).  

Hispasat 1E was built by Space Systems/Loral using an LS 1300 platform, and weighed 5,320 kg at launch. Carrying 53 active Ku-band transponders, this powerful satellite will give Hispasat additional capacity, plus an expanded range of video and data transmission services, with European and pan-American coverage. The satellite’s design life is 15 years, and it will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 30 degrees West.  

Koreasat 6 was built by Thales Alenia Space using a Star-2 platform from Orbital Sciences Corporation of the United States. Weighing nearly 2,850 kg at launch, it is equipped with 30 active Ku-band transponders. The satellite will take over the Koreasat 3 mission with enhanced capability and  provide broadcasting and communications services across all of Korean peninsular from its orbital position at 116 degrees East. The satellite has a design life exceeding 15 years.