Ariane Completes 250th Launch of TIBA-1 and Inmarsat GX5 Satellites on its 40th Anniversary

Kourou, French Guiana, November 26, 2019--For its fourth and final mission of the year, Ariane 5 placed two communications satellites in geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), lifting off from the European spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana) the Egyptian satellite TIBA-1 and Inmarsat GX5. It was launch No. 250 for Ariane, which will be celebrating its 40^th anniversary on December 24.

The total performance required of the launcher was 10,479 kg, with the two satellites accounting for 9,630 kg. The payloads were injected into an optimized orbit inclined 5° to the equator.

“250 Ariane launches in 40 years,106 Ariane 5 launches between 1996 and 2019, with 11 more by 2022 As each launch presents its own unique challenge, Ariane has constantly increased its efficiency, power, payload capacity and competitiveness in order to meet the needs of the world’s space market and contribute to the European space adventure. It is our firm intention to take this indisputable success story even further, and the adventure continues with Ariane 6, which will make its maiden flight next year,” said André-Hubert Roussel, CEO of ArianeGroup. 

“It is therefore with great emotion that, on behalf of everyone at ArianeGroup, I pay tribute to all the engineers and technicians whose talents and dedication have made Ariane such a success, as well as to Arianespace and all our industrial partners. Once again our thanks also go to the teams at the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French space agency (CNES) for their continued confidence and support,” added Roussel.

Tiba-1 is a satellite for Egypt that will be used for civil and government communications. It is Egypt's first government-owned telecommunications satellite. Two companies were the prime contractors: Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space. 

Inmarsat GX5, which was built by Thales Alenia Space. GX5 is the fifth and most advanced satellite in the group of Global Xpress satellites, which are used for mobile communications.