After three months of delays, two European-built telecommunications satellites are due to be launched into orbit Thursday evening by an Ariane-4 rocket.
The Ariane-44LP rocket will be launched from Kourou in French Guiana between 2316 and 2358 GMT, said a spokesman for Arianespace, the French-led European space consortium which operates the rocket programme.
In the fifth launch of the year, the rocket will carry the telecommunications satellites Brasilsat-B4 and Nilesat-102.
Brasilsat-B4, built by the American company Hughes Space and Communications and the sixth satellite of the Brazilian operator Embratel, will provide television and telecommunication services throughout Brazil for 12 to 13 years.
Nilesat-102, constructed in France by the European company Astrium, will deliver digital television programmes for North Africa and countries in the Persian Gulf.
The launch should start a “regularly sustained” series of launches on Arianespace’s schedule this year, worth a total of 3.26 billion euros (2.96 billion dollars), Arianespace officials hope.
The three-month delay in launches was due to defects in satellite thrusters rather than any defect with the rockets, according to industry experts.
The Ariane-5 rocket, due to launch two other satellites on May 23, is still on the ground because of a problem with its control system. Its launch — with the satellites Astra-2B and GE-7 Americom — is set for September 14.
Two other Ariane-5 and three to four other Ariane-4 rockets are expected to launch 10-40 satellites into orbit before the end of the year.
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