Tag: Al Yah 3

An Ariane 5 rocket soared into orbit from French Guiana on Jan. 25 with the commercial SES 14 and Al Yah 3 communications satellite, but the launcher missed its mark and released the telecom craft into an unplanned orbit. Officials from SES and Yahsat, the companies which own the two payloads, said their satellites will…

A 180-foot-tall (55-meter) Ariane 5 rocket climbed into space from French Guiana on Thursday evening, but the mission ran into problems a few minutes later. The launch was supposed to deliver the SES 14 and Al Yah 3 communications satellites into a supersynchronous transfer orbit arcing as high as 28,000 miles (45,000 kilometers) above Earth.…

EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 1300 GMT (8 a.m. EST) Jan. 26 with SES statement. An Ariane 5 rocket lifts off Thursday from French Guiana. Credit: Arianespace KOUROU, French Guiana — A European Ariane 5 rocket took off from French Guiana and delivered two commercial communications satellites and a NASA scientific package to orbit Thursday after…

An Ariane 5 rocket climbs away from Kourou, French Guiana, with the SES 14 and Al Yah 3 communications satellites. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now KOUROU, French Guiana — Arianespace will convene an independent inquiry board chaired by a top European Space Agency official to investigate why an Ariane 5 rocket flew off course Thursday night…

Arianespace chief executive Stephane Israel announced an anomaly occurred during Thursday’s flight of an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, shortly after the launcher’s second stage engine ignited. The Ariane 5 lifted off at 2220 GMT (5:20 p.m. EST; 7:20 p.m. French Guiana time), but the ground team lost contact with the rocket a…

The Airbus-built SES 14 communications satellite and the GOLD payload are readied for attachment to its Ariane 5 rocket. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – JM Guillon A $66 million NASA-funded science sensor package bolted on to a commercial communications satellite is ready for a ride toward a 22,000-mile-high orbital perch Thursday…

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with the SES 14 and Al Yah 3 communications satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

The Airbus-built SES 14 communications satellite is readied for attachment to its Ariane 5 rocket. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – JM Guillon The first Ariane 5 rocket scheduled for launch in 2018 has been topped off with two communications satellites for SES and Yahsat, moving the European booster closer to liftoff…