Arianespace signed an agreement to launch two satellites for longtime customer Intelsat, one of the world’s largest satellite operators. This continues the longstanding relationship between Intelsat and Arianespace that dates back to 1983.

The first launch will carry the Galaxy 30 satellite together with the Orbital ATK Mission Extension Vehicle-2 (MEV- 2) as a stacked pair. Galaxy 30 will be the first replacement satellite for the North American Galaxy Fleet and in addition to its C-band payload, Galaxy 30 will include Ku- and Ka-band payloads to support broadband applications in North America. The launch of Galaxy 30 demonstrates Intelsat’s commitment to its distribution neighborhoods, which has an unmatched penetration of cable headends in the United States. Galaxy 30 is based on Orbital ATK’s GEOStar-2™ satellite platform.

The MEV-2 satellite is owned by Orbital ATK’s Space Logistics LLC subsidiary. Intelsat will be the first customer of the MEV-2. The MEV-2 provides life-extending services by taking over the orbit maintenance and attitude control functions of a client’s spacecraft.

Under the contract, Arianespace will also launch an additional satellite for Intelsat in the second half of 2020.

“Arianespace is honored yet again to be selected by Intelsat for the safe and timely delivery of its satellites. Going back nearly four decades, we’ve always enjoyed a relationship of mutual confidence with Intelsat. We are proud to be able to perpetuate this epic friendship with two more launches, one of which will feature stacked payloads in the upper position of the Ariane 5, proof of our ability to bring to the table the most innovative solutions for our customers,” declared Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace.

“Arianespace has been one of Intelsat’s most long-standing and trusted partners”, said Ken Lee, Senior Vice President, Space Systems, Intelsat. “Since 2016, Arianespace has successfully completed 5 missions on behalf of Intelsat, including 4 that included our next generation Intelsat EpicNG spacecrafts. We continue to have the utmost confidence in Arianespace and look forward to the successful execution of the innovative Galaxy 30 and Mission Extension Vehicle 2 dual launch mission.”

Arianespace will launch the first pair of satellites, Intelsat’s Galaxy 30 satellite and the MEV-2, in early 2020 from Europe’s Spaceport in South America aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

About Arianespace

Arianespace uses space to make life better on Earth by providing launch services for all types of satellites into all orbits. It has orbited more than 550 satellites since 1980, using its family of three launchers, Ariane, Soyuz and Vega, from launch sites in French Guiana (South America) and Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Arianespace is headquartered in Evry, near Paris, and has a technical facility at the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, plus local offices in Washington, D.C., Tokyo and Singapore. Arianespace is a subsidiary of ArianeGroup, which holds 74% of its share capital, with the balance held by 17 other shareholders from the European launcher industry.