Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
06:41:00
Tuesday August 29, 1995
First flight of Ariane 44P with an H10-3 stage. Flight V77.
Two Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) satellites with the highest capacity of any commercial payloads in space were delivered into orbit in 1995 and 1996 and are now providing a variety of fixed and mobile domestic communications services to customers throughout Japan. These satellites, N-STAR-a and -b, replace the service of the SS/L CS satellites, which have now exceeded their expected lifetimes, and will also provide significant new services, which range from providing alternate routes for telephones to emergency communications to marine and terrestrial mobile services, and ISDN. The N-STARs were built for Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) and NTT Mobile Communication Network Inc. (NTT DoCoMo). Dubbed “switchboards in the sky,” for their wide range of abilities, these 26-transponder satellites each carry five separate communications payloads operating in four frequency bands.
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
1 Payload
3,400 kilograms
Manufacturer
ESARocket
Diameter: 3.8m
Height: 58.72m
Payload to Orbit
GTO: 3,460 kg
Liftoff Thrust
4,334 Kilonewtons
Stages
3
Strap-ons
4
49th
Mission
7th
Mission of 1995
68th
Mission
7th
Mission of 1995
49th
Orbital launch attempt