Arianespace has announced the two satellite payloads to be orbited aboard the Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift rocket have been filled with their onboard propellants. The fueling took place in the S5 satellite preparation facility, where both telecommunications spacecraft are continuing their final check-outs for the scheduled May 26 liftoff.
The Thaicom 5 satellite was loaded with Monomethylhydrazine fuel in the S5 facility's S5B hall. Thaicom 5 was built by Alcatel Alenia Space and is based on the European manufacturer's Spacebus satellite design.
The relay platform will be operated by Thailand's Shin Satellite Public Company Limited for Ku-band and C-band telecommunications and television services throughout the Asia/Pacific region, and is to be located at an orbital position of 78.5 degrees east longitude.
Thaicom 5 will have a liftoff mass of approximately 2,800 kilograms (6,160 pounds), and will be the smaller of the two payloads carried by Ariane 5. The three-axis stabilized spacecraft will allow Shin Satellite to retire its Thaicom 1 and Thaicom 2 satellites, launched by Arianespace in 1993 and 1994, respectively.
Arianespace also orbited Shin Satellite's Thaicom 1 spacecraft in 1997, and an Ariane 5 lofted the heavyweight Thaicom 4 platform in August 2005. Thaicom 4 boasted a record mass of 6,485 kilograms (14,260 pounds).
Ariane 5's other payload, the Satmex 6 satellite, received its propellant in the S5A fueling hall of the S5 building. The spacecraft will have a liftoff mass of about 5,700 kilograms (12,450 pounds). It will be utilized by Satelites Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V. to provide coverage over the Continental United States, Mexico and South America.
Satmex 6 is based on Space Systems/Loral's FS-1300X satellite bus and carries a mixed relay payload of 36 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders.
