Skynet launches successfully

Monday, 12, Mar 2007 10:53

A satellite which will provide the British armed forces with sophisticated new long-distance communications links has been successfully launched into space.

The Skynet 5A satellite had been due to lift-off on board the Ariane-5 rocket from the launch site in French Guyana on Saturday evening but was delayed until last night so that engineers could fix a fault in the launch-pad water deluge system.

Now in orbit, the satellite will undergo a period of intensive testing before moving to the position from which it will operate.

Francois Auque, chief executive of Astrium, which designed Skynet 5A, said: "This marks a major step in our triple challenge - building the Skynet 5 satellites, placing them in orbit on-board Ariane 5, and delivering a new era in secure military communications to the UK Ministry of Defence, in the form of a unique service provision approach."

Part of a £3.6 billion project, the Skynet 5A platform will provide the British armed forces with a new generation of secure communications, linking the Ministry of Defence to commanders around the world.

As well as Britain's hi-tech system, the Ariane-5 rocket also carried the Insat 4B civilian communications satellite on behalf of India's Space Research Organisation.