First 2020 Ariane flight successfully completed

Eutelsat Konnect and GSAT-30 satellites correctly orbited

The first 2020 flight (107th mission overall) of the Ariane 5 rocket successfully took place during the night of the 16th of January from the Guyana Space Center (CSG) spaceport. The European launcher correctly orbited the Eutelsat Konnect and GSAT-30 satellites, which will provide Internet access and TV broadcast services for Eutelsat and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) respectively.

Ariane 5 leverages the thrust of the two strap-on solid-propelled boosters and of the liquid-oxygen Turbopump produced in Italy by Avio, leader of space propulsion technologies.

Giulio Ranzo, CEO of Avio, stated: “It’s the first successful launch of Ariane 5 in 2020. This achievement reaffirms the reliability of the product while the development of the new generation launchers Vega C and Ariane 6 is moving quickly, with the maiden flights of both expected by the end of the year. Furthermore, we are working hard and getting closer to the return to flight of Vega with the SSMS mission on schedule for the first quarter of 2020.”