Arianespace marks a 34th consecutive mission success for its heavy-lift workhorse on October 29 as Ariane 5 orbits the NSS-12 and THOR 6 satellites from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Photo courtesy of Arianespace.
OHO-1 is to be produced jointly by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Thales Alenia Space. Orbital will supply the Star 2.3 satellite bus, which will have a liftoff mass of approximately 3,200 kg. with its payload provided by Thales Alenia Space. Arianespace can orbit this type of satellite from French Guiana either aboard a heavy-lift Ariane 5 (in a dual-payload configuration along with a larger telecommunications spacecraft), or on a medium-lift Soyuz. OverHorizon’s goal is to provide a cost-effective combination of the mobility and ease of mobile satellite telephony with broadband services that offer the throughput and real-time capability of traditional fixed satellite communications. OHO-1 will use the latest in space qualified hardware, including on-board processing (OBP), routing and signal regeneration, and steerable spot beams, which will enable the company to meet users’ needs for high data-rate, low-profile mobile communications.
