Two Eutelsat Satellites Orbited by Arianespace on Ariane 5's 28th Consecutive Mission Success

Arianespace today completed its ninth year of Ariane 5 operations with another successful dual-payload mission of the workhorse commercial vehicle, orbiting two telecommunications satellites for Europes Eutelsat telecommunications operator.>> The heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA lifted off from Europes Spaceport in French Guiana at 7:35 p.m. local time, and deployed its HOT BIRD 9 and W2M passengers during a 32-minute flight.>> Payload lift performance for tonights launch was approximately 8,340 kg. for the combined weight of the two Eutelsat satellites.>> It brings the total payload mass lofted by Ariane 5s six missions in 2008 to more than 56,700 kg. including the 10 civilian and defense telecommunications spacecraft carried to geostationary transfer orbit, as well as the large Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which was placed in a 260-km. circular orbit to service the International Space Station.>> This flight was Ariane 5s 28th consecutive successful mission, demonstrating that launcher performance, reliability and availability can go hand-in-hand, said Jean-Yves Le Gall, Arianespaces Chairman & CEO, during post-launch comments at the Spaceport.>> Tonights success also underscores the quality of the relationship that unites us with Eutelsat, which entrusted us with the simultaneous launch of two of its satellites and I want to very warmly thank Giuliano Berretta [the CEO of Eutelsat Communications], for his trust, he added. In 2008, we marked the 25th anniversary of our cooperation with HOT BIRD 9 and W2M being the 22nd and 23rd satellites launched by Arianespace for Eutelsat.