MISSION NAME
Hispasat 1B & Insat 2B
Status
Success
DATE
22 JUL 1993
LAUNCH PROVIDER
Arianespace
Launch Pad
Ariane Launch Area 2
Description
Hispasat 1A and B were the first two satellites in the national system operated by the Spanish satellite communications operator Hispasat, for a dual civil/military mission, offering services to telecommunications operators and radio broadcasting both in Europe and North Africa and America. Hispasat 1A was launched in September 1992, and Hispasat 1B in July 1993. From its orbital position of 30 degrees West above the Atlantic and close to the Brazilian coast, this was the first European satellite system to provide transatlantic capacity, simultaneously covering all the Latin American countries and the United States, areas that have a great deal in common both culturally and linguistically.
Ariane 44L
Rocket Description
The Ariane 4 was an expendable space launch system, developed by the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by Arianespace. Since its first flight on 15 June 1988 until the final flight on 15 February 2003, it attained 113 successful launches out of 116 total launches.