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Arianespace Flight 160:
A successful boost for two loyal customers

Kourou, French Guiana, April 9, 2003 - Arianespace today orbited two
communications satellites: Insat 3A for ISRO, the Indian space
agency; and Galaxy XII for PanAmSat, the premier provider of global
video and data broadcasting services via satellite.


Eleventh successful launch

With its 11th successful mission, the Ariane 5 "Generic" launcher
confirms its technical and operational maturity. Four more Ariane 5
missions are planned in 2003.

Arianespace has ordered additional standard Ariane 5 launchers from
European industry to meet customer needs and ensure service
continuity.

Two long-standing customers

Insat 3A is the 10th Indian satellite orbited by an Ariane launcher.
Arianespace has teamed up with ISRO (Indian Space Research
Organisation) since the launch of the organization's first satellite,
Apple, in June 1981. 

Galaxy XII is the 18th satellite launched by Arianespace for
PanAmSat, one of its longest-standing customers. The relations of
mutual confidence between Arianespace and the world's leading private
satellite operator reach back to the maiden Ariane 4 launch in June
1988. 

Flight 160 at a glance

Flight 160 was carried out by an Ariane 5 Generic launcher from
Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on
Wednesday, April 9, 2003 at 7:52 p.m. local time in Kourou, 22H52
GMT, 6:52 p.m. in Washington, D.C., and on Thursday, April 10 at
12:52 a.m. in Paris.

Provisional parameters at injection of the storable propellant upper
stage were:

Perigee: 859.3 km. for a target of 860 km. (+/-3 km)
Apogee: 36,055 km. for a target of 36,057 km. (+/-160 km)
Inclination: 1.99 degrees for a target of 2.00 degrees (+/-0.05ø)

Insat 3A was designed, produced and integrated by ISRO in Bangalore,
southern India. To be positioned at 93.5 degrees East, it is fitted
with 18 C-band and extended C-band transponders and 6 Ku-band
transponders. The satellite will provide telecommunications and TV
transmission services for the Indian sub-continent, while also
carrying out a meteorological observation mission (VHRR). In
addition, it has an SAR (search and rescue) payload.

Galaxy XII was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles,
Virginia, on a Star-2 platform. Weighing 1,760 kg. at launch, Galaxy
XII will be positioned at 74 degrees West, and has a design life of
15 years. It will provide C-band links between the continental United
States, Alaska and Hawaii. The Galaxy XI and Galaxy IVR satellites
were orbited on Arianespace Flights 125 and 129, respectively.

Community of Ariane Cities

The launcher's fairing bears the inscriptions "Bordeaux Metropole"
and "Comune di Collefero" as part of the Community of Ariane Cities
promotional initiative. The French city of Bordeaux and the Italian
city of Collefero are both founding members of the Community.

For more information on the Community of Ariane Cities, see the
organization's website: www.villes-ariane.org

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