Ariane 5 launched the Star One D2 and Eutelsat Quantum communications satellites on 2021-07-30, from Kourou, French Guiana, marking Ariane 5’s first flight in nearly a year.
Star One D2 was built on Maxar’s 1300-class platform at Maxar’s Palo Alto, California manufacturing facility.
Star One D2 will expand broadband coverage to new regions in Central and South America.
Star One D2 will operate from 70 degrees west in geostationary orbit.
The Ariane 5 upper stage deployed the Eutelsat Quantum satellite six minutes after deploying Star One D2 into a geostationary transfer orbit.
The Ariane 5 upper stage deployed the Star One D2 satellite 30 minutes after liftoff into a geostationary transfer orbit.
Star One D2 is a 6,200-kilogram satellite ordered from SSL in October for a 2019 launch that will carry commercial C-, Ku- and Ka-band transponders and a military X-band payload.