Military And Civilian Telecom Satellites Are Readied For Third Ariane 5 Mission Of 2008

The two payloads for Ariane 5's third mission of 2008 are undergoing pre-flight checkout at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana as Arianespace maintains the accelerated launch rate for its heavy-lift workhorse vehicle this year. These satellites – Skynet 5C and Turksat 3A – are being readied for liftoff on May 23, which will be five weeks to the day after Arianespace's most recent on-target Ariane 5 launch with the VINASAT-1 and Star One C2 spacecraft.

Skynet 5C is the third satellite to be launched by Arianespace for U. K.-based Paradigm – a military satellite telecommunications operator that delivers resilient, survivable and secure communications to military and government users. Ariane 5 missions in 2007 orbited Skynet 5A in March, followed by Skynet 5B in November.

The Skynet 5 series of spacecraft are built by EADS Astrium, and carry hardened Ultra High and Super High Frequency (UHF/SHF) payloads that operate with multiple, steerable spot beams. Their relay capability is used by the

U. K.'s armed forces and other government agencies, and also is available to approved international defense, governmental and multinational organizations – including NATO, which recently selected Paradigm as part of a European team to provide its next generation satellite communication services.

Riding with Skynet 5 on the upcoming Ariane 5 mission is Turksat 3A, a Thales Alenia Space-built for Turkey's international satellite and cable operator. Turksat 3A will enable Turksat to offer telecommunication services and direct TV broadcasting over a broader area than its existing satellites, covering Turkey, Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

Equipped with 24 Ku-band switchable transponders, Turksat 3A will serve as a bridge between Europe and Asia – with coverage specially designed to provide very efficient gain for broadband applications such as VSAT services for low-cost, up-link systems.

Equipped with 24 Ku-band switchable transponders, Turksat 3A will serve as a bridge between Europe and Asia – with coverage specially designed to provide very efficient gain for broadband applications such as VSAT services for low-cost, up-link systems.