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| Sky Muster and ARSAT-2 were orbited on Ariane 5’s 68th consecutive success, VA226 performed Sept. 30, 2015 (Spaceport version) |
After a smooth countdown that started before dawn Wednesday, the Ariane 5 rocket’s Vulcain 2 main engine lit at 2030 GMT (4:30 p.m.), followed by a computer-run status check and ignition of two powerful solid rocket boosters to propel the 18-story launcher skyward.
Packed with two satellites with a combined weight of nearly 10.4 tons, the Ariane 5 soared east from its jungle launch pad, spanning the Atlantic Ocean in less than a half-hour before the rocket’s second stage HM7B engine switched off after reaching an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit.
Then came delicate maneuvers by the Ariane 5 upper stage to deploy the dual payloads — first Australia’s 14,197-pound Sky Muster broadband Internet satellite, then Argentina’s 6,563-pound Arsat 2 telecom station.
Australian Sky Muster
NBN successfully launches Sky Muster satellite - CNETRemote Australia is one step closer to enjoying high speed Internet. On Thursday morning NBN successfully launched into space its Sky Muster satellite, which it expects will help connect 400,000 homes throughout the country to super quick broadband networks.
The satellite was shot into orbit from South America's Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, with NBN having set up a live feed of the blastoff for those who were in the market for a good old fashioned rocket launch.
Sky Muster satellite to support rural broadband service in Australia - Aerospace Technology
National Broadband Network CEO Bill Morrow said: "With the launch of Sky Muster, we're one step closer to changing the digital face of our nation.
Sky Muster will undergo final technical testing ahead of its commercial launch scheduled next year."With the launch of Sky Muster, we're one step closer to changing the digital face of our nation.""The ability to video conference friends and family, study courses online and visit doctors from your lounge room will all be possible in areas which have traditionally struggled to access basic internet services like online banking and shopping.
"Many homes and businesses in regional and rural Australia still rely on dial-up level speeds and have little or no access to a commercial broadband service. This satellite will help to close the divide and ensure no-one gets left behind."
After the commercial launch, the service is expected to provide wholesale speeds even faster than present connections.
National Broadband Network recently signed additional contracts for the rollout of high speed broadband across Australia.
NBN Sky Muster satellite a 'game changer': Fifield, Morrow | ZDNet
Fifield, speaking at a press conference in Sydney on Thursday morning after NBN successfully launched the first of its two new AU$620 million Ka-band satellites earlier in the day, called the service a "game changer" in ensuring the delivery of broadband access for all.
"The NBN long-term satellite service will be a game changer for many remote Australians, offering broadband services at ADSL2-comparable speeds for the first time," Fifield said.The satellite was launched from French Guiana as part of NBN's long-term satellite solution to provide high-speed broadband coverage to the 3 percent of the Australian population not living within the fixed-wireless, fibre, and hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) NBN network footprint.
"Sky Muster and her sister satellite are among the largest commercial satellites ever launched. Each will project 101 spot beams providing coverage to Australia and to five offshore locations: Christmas, Cocos, Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Macquarie Islands."
Argentine ARSAT-2
The Arsat 2 satellite accompanied Sky Muster on Wednesday’s rocket ride, becoming Argentina’s second geostationary communications satellite.“Arsat 2 has just made a big step, and I’m glad to say that we’ve already been able to communicate with this satellite in Benavidez (near Buenos Aires),” said Matias Bianchi, president of Arsat. “We’ve received the first signals, so everything is all right. Everything is going as planned.”
Made in Patagonia by Argentina’s INVAP industrial contractor, Arsat 2’s launch comes nearly one year after Arsat 1’s deployment to become Argentina’s first large-class telecom satellite.
Equipped with transponders in Ku-band and C-band, Arsat 2 is tailored for direct-to-home television broadcasts, Internet services, data networking and telephone applications. Its mission is expected to last at least 15 years.
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