Ariane 5 lifts off Horizons 3e and Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 satellites. Credit: Arianespace.

Arianespace has launched two communications satellites, Horizons 3e and Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38, from Guiana Space Center (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana.

Horizons 3e is owned by a joint venture between Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT. Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 will be operated by Azercosmos and Intelsat.

Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël said: “With this sixth launch of the year, Arianespace is proud to have placed its 100th Ariane 5 mission at the service of our American, Japanese and Azeri customers.

“It clearly symbolises the long string of successes achieved by our heavy launcher on the commercial export market, representing more than half of all satellites it has orbited.”

The satellites were launched onboard a heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket. During the launch, Horizons 3e was installed as an upper passenger and Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 as the lower passenger of Ariane 5.

Horizons 3e, which has completed Intelsat’s EpicNG network, is designed to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to mobile service providers and government entities.

“Arianespace is proud to have placed its 100th Ariane 5 mission at the service of our American, Japanese and Azeri customers.”

Boeing served as the prime contractor of Horizons 3e, which is expected to offer high-throughput services to the Asia-Pacific region and the Pacific Ocean from its orbital position of 169ºE.

Horizons 3e is scheduled to provide service by the first quarter of next year.

Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 is a multi-mission satellite that will offer services from an altitude of 45° East.

Azerspace-2 is Azercosmos’ second telecommunications satellite and is designed to expand on the current capacity of Azerspace-1.

It intends to offer improved capacity, coverage and services to meet the increasing demand for Direct-to-Home (DTH), government and network services in Europe, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Intelsat 38 is developed to provide Ku-band capabilities and will replace the Intelsat 12 satellite.

It will provide Direct-to-Home services for the Central and Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific regions, as well as critical broadband connectivity for corporate network and government services in Africa.

Space Systems/Loral (SSL) acted as the prime contractor of Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 satellite.