02/14/2017 19:38
Thales Alenia Space confirms the Telkom 3S satellite is also sending telemetry to engineers on the ground. Both satellites launched tonight are functioning as intended in the early phases of their missions.
02/14/2017 19:32
Airbus Defense and Space confirms the Sky Brasil 1 satellite is in contact with ground controllers, verifying it's alive following tonight's blastoff.
02/14/2017 19:24
Arianespace has confirmed success on tonight's Ariane 5 launch.
"Arianespace is delighted to announce that Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S have been separated as planned in the targeted geostationary transfer orbit," said Stephane Israel, chairman and CEO of Arianespace. "For the first time this year, and the 77th in a row, Ariane 5 has performed flawlessly, so well done and congratulations to all."
02/14/2017 19:21 Telkom 3S separation
Telkom 3S separation confirmed. The new satellite will offer television broadcasts, mobile backhaul and broadband services over Indonesia, Malaysia and Southeast Asia for up to 18 years.
02/14/2017 19:09
Plus+29 minutes, 30 seconds. The Sylda dual-payload adapter has jettisoned, setting the stage for separation of Telkom 3S at Plus+39 minutes, 43 seconds.
02/14/2017 19:08 Sky Brasil 1 separation
Separation of Sky Brasil 1 confirmed, beginning a 19-year mission for DirecTV Latin America.
The Ariane 5's Sylda 5 dual payload adapter will be separated next, revealing the Telkom 3S spacecraft for its deployment in a few minutes.
02/14/2017 19:05 Second stage cutoff
Plus+25 minutes, 20 seconds. The rocket's second stage shut down as scheduled. The upper stage is now maneuvering into the correct orientation for deployment of Sky Brasil 1.
02/14/2017 19:04
Plus+24 minutes. The rocket is surpassing a speed of 20,500 mph. Shutdown of the upper stage is about a minute-and-a-half from now. A tracking station in Malindi, Kenya, is now in contact with Ariane 5.
02/14/2017 19:02
Plus+22 minutes. The upper stage will shut down at Plus+25 minutes, 16 seconds, after reaching a target orbit with a low point of 155 miles, a high point of 22,205 miles, and an inclination of 4 degrees. The rocket is now being tracked by a ground station in Libreville, Gabon.
02/14/2017 18:58
Plus+18 minutes. Everything is going well with the burn of the upper stage HM7B engine as the Ariane 5 races across the Atlantic Ocean at 8.31 kilometers per second, or about 18,600 mph.
02/14/2017 18:54
Plus+14 minutes. This upper stage engine is about 5 minutes into a planned 16-minute burn. Ariane 5 is at an altitude of 151 kilometers. A tracking station on Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean has picked up signals from the Ariane 5.
02/14/2017 18:50
The Ariane 5 has passed over the horizon from Kourou and is now out of range of the Galliot tracking station near the launch pad.
02/14/2017 18:49 Staging
Plus+9 minutes, 15 seconds. The main cryogenic stage's Vulcain engine has cut off and the spent stage has separated. It will fall back into the atmosphere into the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa.
And the upper stage's HM7B engine is now firing to inject the Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S satellites into orbit.
02/14/2017 18:47
Plus+7 minutes, 30 seconds. Altitude is 176 km, downrange distance is 1,040 km and velocity is 5.04 km/s.
02/14/2017 18:46 Launch image
02/14/2017 18:45
Plus+5 minutes, 20 seconds. Altitude is 161 km, downrange distance is 515 km and velocity is 3.25 km/s.
02/14/2017 18:43
Plus+3 minutes, 30 seconds. Separation of the rocket's nose cone has been confirmed. The Ariane 5 core stage will continue burning until about Plus+9 minutes into the mission.
02/14/2017 18:42
The solid rocket boosters have been jettisoned from the Ariane 5 rocket's core stage after consuming approximately 480 metric tons of propellant. The liquid-fueled Vulcain 2 main engine continues to fire to propel the vehicle and its satellite payload to space.
02/14/2017 18:41
The vehicle is on the proper heading as it rides the power of the twin solid rocket boosters and main stage liquid-fueled engine.
02/14/2017 18:40 Liftoff
Liftoff of an Ariane 5 rocket carrying Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S, communications satellites heading for coverage zones over Brazil and Indonesia.
02/14/2017 18:38 Minus-60 seconds
A fast-paced series of events leading to launch will begin at Minus-37 seconds when the automated ignition sequence is started. The water suppression system at the launch pad will start at Minus-30 seconds. At Minus-22 seconds, overall control will be given to the onboard computer. The Vulcain main engine will be readied for ignition with hydrogen chilldown starting at Minus-18 seconds.
The residual hydrogen burn flares will fire beneath the Vulcain engine at Minus-5.5 seconds to burn away any free hydrogen gas. At Minus-4 seconds, onboard systems take over and the two inertial guidance systems go to flight mode. Vulcain main engine ignition occurs at Minus-0 seconds with checkout between Plus+4 and 7 seconds. If there are no problems found, the solid rocket boosters are ignited at Plus+7.0 seconds for liftoff at Plus+7.3 seconds.
02/14/2017 18:38 Minus-2 minutes
The Vulcain main engine supply valves are being opened. And the ground valves for engine chilldown are being closed.
02/14/2017 18:36
The scheduled launch time has been loaded into the rocket's main computer system. The main stage tank pressures should now be at flight level.
02/14/2017 18:36
With the live broadcast back underway, pressurization has begun for the main cryogenic stage's liquid oxygen and hydrogen tanks. Also, final pyrotechnic arming is starting.
02/14/2017 18:35
Arianespace's webcast is again experiencing technical problems. We're awaiting the resumption of the live video stream from Kourou.
02/14/2017 18:34
Minus-5 minutes. All status panel lights remain green, indicating no problems right now that could prevent blastoff at 2139 GMT.
02/14/2017 18:34
Arianespace's webcast has resumed after experiencing technical difficulties.
02/14/2017 18:33
Minus-6 minutes. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen supplies of the main cryogenic stage are being verified at flight level. Also, the pyrotechnic line safety barriers are being armed.
02/14/2017 18:33
Minus-7 minutes and counting. The synchronized sequence has started. Computers are now in control of this automated final phase of the launch countdown to prepare the rocket and ground systems for liftoff. There are three computers running the countdown - one aboard the Ariane 5 and two redundant computers at the launch complex.
The launch time is set for 2139:00 GMT (4:39:00 p.m. EST; 6:39 p.m. French Guiana time). Liftoff actually occurs even seconds later with ignition of the solid rocket boosters.
02/14/2017 18:32
Minus-8 minutes. The last weather briefing before the countdown enters the synchronized launch sequence indicates all parameters are acceptable for liftoff at 2139 GMT (4:39 p.m. EST).
02/14/2017 18:30
Minus-9 minutes. The Synchronized Sequence is being prepped for activation. This computer-run sequence assumes control of the countdown at the Minus-7 minute mark to perform the final tasks to place the rocket and pad systems in launch configuration.
At Minus-4 seconds, the rocket's onboard computer will take over control of main engine start, health checks of the powerplant and solid rocket booster ignition commanding for liftoff.
02/14/2017 18:29
Minus-10 minutes. Today's launch will deliver the Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S communications satellites to an orbit targeting a planned high point of 22,205 miles, a targeted low point of 155 miles and an inclination of 4 degrees.
The satellites were built by Airbus Defense and Space and Thales Alenia Space, respectively, and will use their on-board engines to raise their orbits to maintain altitude nearly 22,300 miles over the equator.
The Sky Brasil 1 broadcasting satellite, occupying the upper position in the Ariane 5's dual-payload stack, will serve Brazilian markets with direct-to-home television programming for DirecTV Latin America, a subsidiary of AT&T.
Sky Brasil 1 will separate from the Ariane 5's second stage at T+plus 27 minutes, 25 seconds.
A Sylda 5 adapter will be discarded a few minutes later, revealing the 7,826-pound Telkom 3S spacecraft, the mission’s other satellite passenger.
Telkom 3S is designed to support video, data broadband and mobile telecom services over Indonesia, Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia for Telkom Indonesia. Separation of the Telkom 3S spacecraft from the Ariane 5 rocket is scheduled at T+plus 39 minutes, 43 seconds.
The payloads have a combined mass of approximately 23,109 pounds, or 10,482 kilograms, including the barrel-shaped Sylda dual-payload adapter.
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02/14/2017 18:24
Minus 15 minutes. All parameters continue to look good for launch in 15 minutes. A communications check between ground stations and the rocket has concluded.
Some statistics on today's flight:
- 235th launch of an Ariane rocket since 1979
- 285th Arianespace mission
- 91st launch of an Ariane 5 rocket since 1996
- 60th launch of an Ariane 5 ECA rocket since 2002
- 66th flight of a Vulcan 2 engine
- 192nd flight of an HM7B engine
- 78th Ariane 5 launch targeting GTO
- 10th AT&T/DirecTV satellite launched by Arianespace
- 116th Airbus Defense and Space satellite launched by Arianespace
- 3rd Telkom Indonesia satellite launched by Arianespace
- 146th Thales Alenia Space satellite launched by Arianespace
- 2nd launch from the Guiana Space Center in 2017
- 1st Ariane 5 launch in 2017
Minus-30 minutes. The Ariane 5's first and second stages are now loaded with cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.
The 17.7-foot-diameter first stage's Vulcain 2 engine burns 149.5 metric tons, or about 329,000 pounds, of liquid oxygen and 25 metric tons, or about 55,000 pounds, of liquid hydrogen. The cryogenic upper stage's HM7B engine consumes about 14.7 metric tons, or more than 32,000 pounds, of oxygen and hydrogen.
The fluids are stored at super-cold temperatures and naturally boil off in the warm tropical atmosphere in French Guiana. More propellant is slowly pumped into the rocket for most of the countdown to replenish the cryogenic fuel.
The topping sequence ends in the final few minutes of the countdown as the fuel tanks are pressurized and the fueling system is secured.
Built by a consortium of European contractors led by Airbus Safran Launchers in Vernon, France, the Vulcain 2 engine generates up to 300,000 pounds of thrust during its 9-minute firing. It burns about 320 kilograms, or 705 pounds, of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellant per second.
The engine's nozzle has an exit diameter of 2.1 meters, or about 6.9 feet. It weighs more than 4,600 pounds and its liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen turbopumps spin at 12,300 rpm and 35,800 rpm, respectively.
The Vulcain 2 replaced the Vulcain engine used on the initial version of the Ariane 5. The newer engine produces 20 percent more thrust.
The Ariane 5's upper stage is powered by an HM7B engine, a modified version of the HM7 engine used on the upper stage of the Ariane 4 rocket. The 364-pound HM7B engine is manufactured by Airbus Safran Launchers in Ottobrunn, Germany.
The HM7B engine produces more than 14,500 pounds of thrust in vacuum.
The Ariane 5 configuration with a Vulcain 2 engine and HM7B-powered cryogenic upper stage is known as the Ariane 5 ECA.
The Ariane 5's twin solid rocket boosters are packed with propellant near the launch site in French Guiana before they are assembled and positioned on each side of the cryogenic core stage.
With the rocket now fully fueled for launch, the vehicle weighs 1.7 million pounds. At liftoff, the rocket produces 2.9 million pounds of thrust.
02/14/2017 17:39
Minus-60 minutes.
Track the major milestones on today's launch with this timeline of major flight events. Deployment of the Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S satellites will occur within 40 minutes of liftoff.
02/14/2017 15:51
See photos of the Ariane 5 during yesterday's rollout to the pad, along with a few snapshots of the rocket after arriving in the ELA-3 launch zone.
02/14/2017 15:09
Minus-3 hours, 30 minutes. The Ariane 5 rocket's first stage, known by the French acronym EPC, is currently being filled with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The second stage, or ESC-A, is also receiving the same mix of liquid propellants. The first stage Vulcain 2 engine and the upper stage HM7B engine both consume the super-cold fuel.
The cryogenic propellant will be gradually pumped inside the rocket to maintain proper levels as the fuel evaporates over the rest of the countdown.
The Ariane 5's supply of cryogenic liquid helium, used to pressurize the rocket's propellant tanks, was loaded aboard the launcher Monday.
02/14/2017 07:23
The Ariane 5 countdown is officially getting underway in French Guiana with launch crews arriving at the space base to prep the rocket and ground systems for liftoff at 2139 GMT (4:39 p.m. EST; 6:39 p.m. local time).
The launch window extends for 86 minutes.
The 91st Ariane 5 mission will loft the Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S communications satellites destined to provide TV, broadband and data services over Brazil and Indonesia.
Sky Brasil 1, manufactured by Airbus Defense and Space, is set to begin a mission broadcasting direct-to-home television programming to millions of homes and businesses in Brazil for DirecTV Latin America, a subsidiary of AT&T.
The more than 13,000-pound (6-metric ton) Sky Brasil 1 satellite, designed to function for up to 19 years, is mounted in the upper position of the Ariane 5 rocket's dual-payload stack. It is heading for a slot in geostationary orbit at 41.3 degrees west longitude.
The smaller of the two satellite passengers on Tuesday's flight is Telkom 3S, a 7,826-pound (3,550-kilogram) communications craft built by Thales Alenia Space and owned by Telkom Indonesia.
Telkom 3S will broadcast television signals, broadband Internet and mobile communications services over Indonesia, Malaysia and neighboring parts of Southeast Asia from a position in geostationary orbit nearly 22,300 miles (about 35,800 kilometers) above Earth's equator at 118 degrees east longitude.
Tuesday's launch will be the first Ariane 5 flight of the year, and Arianespace's second launch of 2017.
The countdown is due to begin at 1016 GMT (5:16 a.m. EST), with clocks programmed for liftoff of the Ariane 5 ECA rocket at 2139 GMT (4:39 p.m. EST), or 6:39 p.m. local time at the launch site in French Guiana.
A check of electrical systems occurred around 1106 GMT (6:06 a.m. EST).
Workers will also put finishing touches on the launch pad, including the closure of doors, removal of safety barriers and configuring fluid lines for fueling. The flight program for today's launch will be loaded into the rocket's computer.
The launch team will begin the process to fuel the rocket with super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants around 1716 GMT (12:16 p.m. EST). First, ground reservoirs will be pressurized, then the fuel lines will be chilled down to condition the plumbing for the flow of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which are stored at approximately minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit and minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.
It will take approximately two hours to fill the Ariane 5 core stage tanks.
A similar procedure for the Ariane 5's cryogenic upper stage will commence at 1756 GMT (12:56 p.m. EST).
Chilldown conditioning of the Vulcain 2 first stage engine will occur at 1821 GMT (1:21 p.m. EST), and a communications check between the rocket and ground telemetry, tracking and command systems is scheduled for 2024 GMT (3:24 p.m. EST).
A final weather briefing will come at T-minus 10 minues, and then the computer-controlled synchronized countdown sequence will begin seven minutes before launch to pressurize propellant tanks, switch to on-board power and take the rocket's guidance system to flight mode.
The Vulcain 2 engine will ignite as the countdown clock reaches zero, followed by a health check and ignition of the Ariane 5's solid rocket boosters seven seconds later to send the 1.7 million-pound launcher skyward.
Five seconds after blastoff, the rocket will begin pitching east from the ELA-3 launch pad, surpassing the speed of sound less than a minute into the mission. The Ariane 5's twin solid rocket boosters will jettison 2 minutes, 20 seconds after liftoff.
Once above the dense atmosphere, the launcher's payload fairing will fall away at an altitude of more than 70 miles -- about 112 kilometers. The Ariane 5's first stage will shut down 8 minutes, 55 seconds after liftoff, followed moments later by stage separation and ignition of the hydrogen-fueled cryogenic HM7B upper stage engine.
The rocket's upper stage will fire for more than 16 minutes, accelerating to a velocity of 21,000 mph, or more than 9.3 kilometers per second, to reach an orbit with a planned high point of 35,736 kilometers (22,205 miles), a targeted low point of 250 kilometers (155 miles) and an inclination of 4 degrees.
The release of Sky Brasil 1 is scheduled for 27 minutes, 25 seconds, after liftoff. The rocket's barrel-shaped Sylda 5 dual-payload adapter will be jettisoned a few minutes later.
Telkom 3S will separate from the lower portion of the payload stack at 39 minutes, 43 seconds.
02/14/2017 06:06 Launch preview
Two commercial communications satellites heading for orbits more than 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above Earth are scheduled for launch from a jungle launch facility in French Guiana at sunset Tuesday on top of an Ariane 5 rocket.
The Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S spacecraft are mounted inside the Ariane 5's nose cone for launch at 2139 GMT (4:39 p.m. EST; 6:39 p.m. French Guiana time) Tuesday, just before sunset at the South American space base. The launch window extends for 86 minutes.
The 180-foot-tall (55-meter) Ariane 5 rocket rolled out to the launch pad around midday Monday, trekking along dual rail tracks 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) from the Guiana Space Center's final assembly building to the ELA-3 launch zone.
Fastened on a mobile launch table, the rocket was towed behind a diesel-powered Titan truck for the journey.
Technicians secured the rocket and its launch platform at the pad after completing the transfer Monday afternoon, connecting the Ariane 5 with the facility's propellant lines, electrical system and ground telemetry links ahead of the start of the final countdown Tuesday morning.
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