Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket, embarking on its fourth flight of 2018, will lift the Intelsat 38 communications satellite and a yet-to-be-named satellite into Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Intelsat 38 / Azerspace-2, built by Space Systems Loral, will be operated by Intelsat and Azercosmos OJSCo to provide continuity of services for the Intelsat 12 satellite and expand Azercosmos services in the area of DTH and networking services over capacity currently available via Azerspace-1.

The mission was originally planned to lift India’s GSAT-11 satellite as upper-berth passenger; however, the satellite was recalled to India for additional checkouts in April. [GSAT-11 is India’s largest and most-powerful communications satellite to date, weighing 5,725 Kilograms and utilizing the new I-6K satellite platform designed for satellites in the six-metric-ton class. The satellite hosts 40 transponders operated in Ka/Ku-Band to provide high-throughput communication services with a total throughput of 10 Gbps.]

Mission Resources:

🚀 Launch Vehicle Overview: Ariane 5 ECA

⏰ Countdown Timeline

☂ Launch Weather

📍 Launch Site Schedule