Readiness confirmed for July 31 WAAS satellite launch

July 29, 2020 - By Tracy Cozzens

Approval is given for Arianespace’s Ariane 5 flight on July 31

Arianespace’s fifth mission of 2020 has been given the green light for liftoff following a July 29 launch readiness review conducted at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

The launch will deliver the Intelsat Galaxy 30 (G-30) satellite into orbit. G-30 will become part of the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the air navigation aid developed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to augment GPS and GNSS.

Besides G-30, the Ariane 5 launch vehicle will also carry the Mission Extension Vehicle-2 (MEV-2) and BSAT-4b. All satellites are flight-ready, along with the Spaceport’s infrastructure and the network of downrange tracking stations.

With approval granted, Ariane 5 also is cleared for rollout on July 30 from its Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch zone. Liftoff will occur on July 31 during a 46-minute launch window opening at 6:30 p.m. local time in French Guiana. To watch the launch live, visit the Arianespace website.

Ariane 5 will deliver a total payload lift performance of approximately 10,468 kg. on the mission to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), which is designated Flight VA253. This total factors in the three passengers, plus the workhorse vehicle’s multi-payload deployment system and integration hardware.

G-30 and MEV-2 — both produced by Northrop Grumman to serve the operational needs of Intelsat — are stacked together in the upper position of Ariane 5’s payload configuration. G-30 will be deployed first during the 47-minute flight sequence, followed by MEV-2.

To be released last as the mission’s lower passenger, BSAT-4b is being launched by Arianespace as part of a turnkey contract between the Japanese operator B-SAT and the satellite manufacturer, Maxar.