...with COM DEV-built switches and other passive microwave components on board. JCSAT-13 and VINASAT-2 were launched on May 15th from French Guiana on a single Ariane 5 rocket. Both satellites will serve the growing Asian market. JCSAT-13 will replace an existing satellite providing television broadcast coverage to Japan, Indonesia, the Middle and Near East, Southwest Asia and Oceania. VINASAT-2 is the second satellite ever launched for Viet Nam, and will provide new capacity for television, radio and telecommunications services for that country. Both satellites were designed and built by Lockheed Martin.
The launch encompassed a number of significant milestones. The two spacecraft were the 100th and 101st Lockheed Martin-built GEO (geosynchronous Earth orbit) commercial communications satellites ever launched. Arianespace surpassed 300 primary satellites launched from its French Guiana operations, and recorded the 48th consecutive success for an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. After launching more than 40 satellites for Lockheed Martin, this was Arianespace’s first dual launch of satellites built by the manufacturer. The combined weight of the two satellites was over 7,500 kilograms.