Ariane 5's 13th Mission Orbits Telecom And Weather Satellites

Communications Today, August 30, 2002

Arianespace placed a dual payload into orbit for two European customers, showing the launcher's capability to pair up all types of satellites on a single mission, the France-based company said.

Flight 155 carried the Atlantic Bird 1 telecommunications satellite built by Alenia Spazio for Eutelsat, along with the MSG-1 weather satellite for the European Meteorological Satellite organization. Ariane 5's 13th launch also marked the organization's ninth successful attempt in nine tries during 2002, company officials said. Three Ariane 5s and six Ariane 4s have been launched in the past six and a half months from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.