This mission will take two large communications satellites to orbit.

MEASAT-3D

Meet MEASAT-3d, a replacement for both MEASAT 3 and -3A.

The satellite is a new multi-mission telecommunications satellite and is built around Airbus Defence and Space’s Eurostar-3000 satellite platform.

MEASAT-3D will serve the growth requirements of 4G & 5G mobile networks in Malaysia while continuing to provide redundancy and additional distribution capacity for video in HD, 4K, and ultimately 8K in the Asia-Pacific region.

The satellite offers an operational life of 19 years.

It will be placed in the 91.5-degree East location in geostationary orbit.

GSAT-24

GSAT-24 took the last payload spot to be sold for the soon-to-be-retired Ariane 5 rocket. But it won’t be the last payload to fly.

The satellite for the Indian government is a 4-ton communications satellite built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and will be placed into a geostationary transfer orbit for the rocket.

GSAT-24 will provide high-quality television, telecommunications, and broadcasting services.

It is the "1st Demand Driven communication satellite mission” undertaken by NewSpace India Limited, a Government of India company under the Department of Space.

It will be the 25th Indian satellite taken to space by Arianespace.

Photo: A GSAT satellite in preparation for launch. Credit: Arianespace

Meet the European Space Agency's heavy-lift, workhorse rocket.

Ariane 5 is operated by Arianespace and carries a per launch price tag of approximately $168 million (USD). However, Arianespace offers ride-shares for two large payloads on the same mission.

Stats

Height: 46–52 m (151–171 ft)

Diameter: 5.4 m (18 ft)

Mass: 777,000 kg (1,713,000 lb)

Stages: 2

The two payloads ride one on top of the other, with the upper payload customer paying $101 million (USD) and the lower payload customer paying $67 million (USD).

This makes the price of an Ariane 5 launch competitive with other heavy-lift rockets from a "what the customer pays" perspective.

Ariane 5 debuted on June 4th, 1996, and has undergone five upgrades over the years.

Of those five variants, one remains in operation: the Ariane 5 ECA (Evolution Cryotechnique type A).

Over its service life, the rocket has launched hundreds of satellites as well as five cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station.

Arianespace and the European Space Agency are in the process of building Ariane 5's successor, Ariane 6, which will be more affordable than Ariane 5.

At this time, the rocket will fly until at least 2023.

Photo: An Ariane 5 lifts off from South America. Credit: Arianespace

ELA-3 (Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 3) is a launch pad built specially for the Ariane 5 rocket - the European Space Agency's (ESA's) and Arianespace's heavy-lift workhorse.

Built in the mid-1990s, it was first used on June 4th, 1996, for the maiden launch of Ariane 5.

ELA-3 is located in the Guiana Space Centre (French: Centre Spatial Guyanais), a French and European spaceport located near Kourou in French Guiana near the northern tip of South America.

The space centre itself has been operational since 1968 and has hosted launches for the ESA, the French National Centre for Space Studies, and commercial companies Arianespace and Azercosmos.

A total of 9 different rockets types have launched from the Guiana Space Centre, including three active rockets and six retired vehicles.

The current rocket fleet at the space center is comprised of the Ariane 5 for heavy payloads, the Russian-provided Soyuz 2.1 for medium-mass payloads, and Vega for smaller satellites.