LAUNCH MISSION
Arianespace Ariane 44L Italsat 1
Launch Pad
Ariane Launch Area 2
Description
Italy's first operational communications satellite was launched 15 January 1991 by an Ariane-44L H10 booster. Developed by a contractor team led by Alenia Spazio, Italsat carries ten active transponders plus five spares for 30/20 GHz and 50/40 GHz links with a capacity of 12,000 telephone circuits.
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.