Ariane 42L | Satmex 5

Launch Provider & Rocket

• Provider: Arianespace (Commercial)
• Rocket: Ariane 42L — Ariane family

Mission

SATMEX 5 is a Hughes HS-601HP or "high power" version of the body-stabilized spacecraft. It features more than 7,000 Watts of payload power, at least 10 times the capacity of Morelos II. Through such innovations as dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells, radiation-cooled traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), advanced battery technology, and a xenon ion propulsion system, XIPS, the HS-601HP can carry payloads twice as powerful as those on the HS 601 models, with an expected 15-year mission lifetime.

• Type: Communications
• Orbit: Geostationary Orbit (Direct-GEO)

Launch Site

• Pad: Ariane Launch Area 2
• Location: Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
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