Astra 1B & Meteosat 5
Ariane 44LP
Arianespace
Mission
Astra 1B & Meteosat 5
Type: Communications
Astra 1B was the second of the Astra communications satellites launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites). It was believed to have been launched in a faulty condition, and suffered a thruster failure early in its life, causing minor drift, meaning that it became permanently difficult to obtain a steady lock on the satellite. This was most notable on analogue transmissions where the picture would move from clear to carrying sparklies and back again.
Trajectory
The trajectory is unavailable. Check back for updates.
Location
Ariane Launch Area 2
Kourou, French Guiana
318 rockets have launched from Kourou, French Guiana.
Rocket
Ariane 44LP – Aérospatiale
- Family: Ariane
- Length: 58.4 m
- Diameter: 3.8 m
- Launch Mass: 420 T
- Low Earth Orbit Capacity: 8000 kg
The Ariane 44LP was manufactured by Aérospatiale with the first launch on 1988-06-15. Ariane 44LP has 25 successful launches and 1 failed launches with a total of 26 launches. The Ariane 4 was an expendable space launch system, developed by the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by Arianespace. Since its first flight on 15 June 1988 until the final flight on 15 February 2003, it attained 113 successful launches out of 116 total launches.
Agency
Arianespace – ASA
- Type: Commercial
- Abbreviation: ASA
- Administration: CEO: Stéphane Israël
- Founded: 1980
- Launchers: Ariane | Vega
- Country: FRA
Arianespace SA is a multinational company founded in 1980 as the world’s first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane programme. Their vehicles launch exclusively from French Guiana in South America.
