May 27 2006
From The Space Library
An Ariane 5-ECA rocket launched from the space center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 21:09 (GMT), placing two telecommunications satellites into geostationary transfer orbit at 36,000 kilometers (22,400 miles) above Earth’s equator. The two satellites, Mexico’s Satmex 6 and Thailand’s Thaicom 5, had a combined mass of 8.2 tonnes (8,200 kilograms or 9.04 tons), the largest payload ever carried by a European rocket. Satmex 6 would provide telecommunications and television services to North America and South America, and Thaicom 5 would provide those services throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Space Daily, “Ariane 5 Rocket Launches Two Satellites into Orbit,” 30 May 2006; ESA, “Ariane 5 ECA Carries Record Payload Mass to GTO,” news release, 28 May 2006, http://www.esa.int/easCP/SEMXIO9ATME_index_).html (accessed 26 March 2010); Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 631.
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