Mar 11 2007
From The Space Library
An Ariane 5ECA rocket launched the British Defense Ministry’s 4.7-tonne (5.2-ton) Skynet-5A satellite and ISRO’s 3.1-tonne (3.4-ton) Insat-4B civil-communications satellite from Kourou, French Guiana. The Skynet-5A was part of a system designed to deliver secure, high-bandwidth communications for British armed forces, NATO, and other allied forces. Skynet had ultra-high-frequency and super-high-frequency communications instruments, a secure payload-control system, antijamming capabilities, and multiple spot beams. Insat 4B carried 12 Ku-band transponders to reach homes and businesses throughout India, as well as 12 C-band transponders to serve users living in an area stretching from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. Insat 4B was the second Insat-4 craft to reach orbit successfully. Insat 4A had successfully launched in 2005, but Insat 4C’s launch vehicle had exploded in July 2006, destroying the satellite.
Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 641; Stephen Clark, “British and Indian Satellites Fly to Space on Ariane 5,” Spaceflight Now, 11 March 2007, http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v175/(accessed 9 June 2010 ); Jonathan Amos, “British Skynet Satellite Launched,” BBC News, 12 March 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6434773.stm (accessed 9 June 2010).
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