Al Yah 3 & SES-14

Mission

Al Yah 3 & SES-14

• Type: Communications
• Orbit: Supersynchronous Transfer Orbit

Al Yah 3 is a geostationary communications satellite built by Orbital ATK for Yahsat. It weighs 3790 kg, carries 53 Ka-band user beams and 4 gateway beams, and is intended for 15 years of operation in orbit. Al Yah 3 will provide telecommunication services to Africa and Brazil. SES-14 is also a communications satellite to be placed in geostationary orbit, replacing NSS-806 satellite. SES-14 coverage includes the Americas and the North Atlantic Region. Spacecraft also carries a hosted payload for NASA, Global-Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission, which will be imaging Earth’s thermosphere and ionospehere for two years.

Location

Ariane Launch Area 3

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Ariane Launch Area 3 has witnessed the launch of 118 rockets, including 118 orbital launch attempts, while Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, has been the site for 320 rocket launches.

Rocket

ArianeGroup Ariane 5 ECA

Ariane 5 is a heavy-lift launch vehicle, part of the Ariane rocket family.

Agency

Arianespace

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.