ASTRA 5B has a launch mass reported as approximately 6 tonnes and a wingspan of 40 meters once its solar arrays are deployed.
Arianespace designated the dual-satellite mission with ASTRA 5B and Amazonas 4A as Flight VA216 in its launcher family numbering system.
ASTRA 5B carries a hosted L-band payload for the European Commission's European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).
The VA216 mission configuration placed ASTRA 5B in the Ariane 5 upper payload position and Amazonas 4A in the lower payload position for deployment during a 34-minute flight sequence.
As of November 6, 2013, SES announced that ASTRA 5B had arrived in Kourou and was being processed for launch on an Ariane 5 rocket scheduled for lift-off December 6, 2013.
As of December 19, 2013, Arianespace scheduled VA216 to place ASTRA 5B and AMAZONAS 4A into orbit on February 19, 2014.
As of November 13, 2013, SES announced that the ASTRA 5B launch had been delayed to January 2014 due to the non-availability of its co-passenger satellite.
ASTRA 5B is equipped with 40 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz equivalent) and 6 Ka-band transponders.