27 October 2011
The Arabsat-5C satellite has been handed over to ARABSAT by Astrium as part of the in-orbit delivery contract. In less than a week, Arabsat-5C is the third satellite based on the highly reliable Astrium’s Eurostar E3000 platform to enter commercial service
After the successful completion of in-orbit testing to ensure that all spacecraft functions were performing as expected, the Arabsat-5C satellite, launched by Ariane 5 on 21 September 2011, was officially transferred to ARABSAT on 26 October at the designated orbital location.
The Launch and Early Orbit Phases (LEOP) were conducted from the Astrium spacecraft control centre in Toulouse, and the In-Orbit Testing from the ARABSAT main control centre in Riyadh supported by the ARABSAT control centre in Tunis.
Astrium and Thales Alenia Space (TAS) were co-prime contractors for the satellite’s construction and delivery in orbit. Astrium, the team leader, supplied the Eurostar E3000 platform and assembled and tested the spacecraft. TAS supplied the communications payload.