In its first flight of 2019, an Ariane 5 ECA put two satellites into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) on their way to geostationarly Earth orbit (GEO). The launch took place from the Kourou launch site at 2101 GMT on 5 February.
The two launch communications satellites aboard were: Hellas-Sat 4/SaudiGEOSat-1 – a jointly owned spacecraft for the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and for Arabsat. Built by Lockheed Martin using its newest version of the 2100 bus line, the LM-2100, the spacecraft weighed in at 6,495 kg at launch.
GSAT-31 – this is a 2,546 kg communications satellite for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) which also built the spacecraft using its I-2K bus design.
Ariane 5 ECA flight VA247 lifts off from Kourou Courtesy: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/JM Guillon
