Brisat

France-based Arianespace has launched the EchoStar XVIII and BRIsat telecommunication satellites into their planned orbit from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

During its latest and third mission of the year, Ariane 5 lifted off a total calculated mass of 10,730kg.

Of the total commercial cargo delivered, the two spacecraft weighed approximately 9,840kg.

Around 29min after lift-off, the 6,300kg EchoStar-18 was mounted in the upper position atop Ariane’s Sylda dual-payload carrier inside the fairing and released first.

After a series of burns, the Sylda structure enclosing the 3,540kg BRIsat was then released into its own transfer orbit.

Owned by US-based operator DISH Network, EchoStar-18 will provide direct-to-home television broadcast services over North America from its 110º West geostationary orbit.

"The satellite has a coverage area that includes Indonesia, South East and North East Asia."

From its 150.5º East in geostationary position, BRIsat will support banking services provided by the bank.

Owned and operated by Bank Rakyat Indonesia, BRIsat is the world’s first communications satellite dedicated to banking and will provide improved secure banking communications for more than 10,600 operational branches, approximately 237,000 electronic channel outlets and nearly 53 million customers across the Indonesian archipelago.

The satellite has a coverage area that includes Indonesia, South East and North East Asia.

Both EchoStar-18 and BRIsat are designed for a lifespan of 15 years.

The launch was the 230th flight of an Ariane-series launcher.

Image: Ariane 5 launches EchoStar XVIII and BRIsat satellite. Photo: courtesy of Arianespace.