ArianespaceAriane 5 ECAAriane Launch Area 3, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
Eutelsat Konnect & GSAT-30
Launched
January 16, 2020
Image: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique vidéo du CSG
Summary
Eutelsat Konnect & GSAT-30 launched on an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA from Ariane Launch Area 3, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana on January 16, 2020. It was Arianespace's 283rd launch, 1st this year and humanity's 5,927th orbital launch attempt. It was the 73rd Ariane 5 ECA flight and the 1st this year. The payload was bound for Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). GSAT-30, one of 4 catalogued objects, reached a 251 × 35,771 km orbit inclined 6.0°. 4 objects from this launch are catalogued, 2 of them payloads.
- Watch
- Vehicle
- Ariane 5 ECA · Arianespace
- Booster
- No booster details on record.
- Mission
- Communications · Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO)
- Milestone
- 73rd Ariane 5 ECA flight · 1st this yearArianespace's 283rd launch1st this yearhumanity's 5,927th orbital launch attempt5th orbital launch attempt this year
Webcast
Flight preview
Orbit: as tracked
GSAT-30 · NORAD 45026 · 2020-005 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 4 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
- Object ID
- 2020-005A
- Epoch
- 2020-01-16 22:49:03 UTC
- Mean motion
- 2.2803898 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.728422
- Inclination
- 6.0448°
- Ascending node
- 254.8884°
- Arg. of perigee
- 178.2364°
- Mean anomaly
- 48.7985°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 0
- B*
- 0
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: GTO. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile.
Catalogued objects
4 catalogued: 2 payloads, 1 rocket stage, 1 component; 4 still in orbit
- GSAT-30 · NORAD 45026 · in orbit
- Eutelsat Konnect · NORAD 45027 · in orbit
Ariane 5 L5110 ESC-D · in orbit
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
Eutelsat Konnect is an all-electric, Ka-band geostationary communications satellite built by Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat. It will provide broadband services to users in Africa and Europe. The baseline mission of the satellite is to provide 75 Gbps of capacity across a network of 65 spotbeams that together provide quasi-complete coverage of Sub-Saharan Africa. The satellite will address direct-to-user consumer and enterprise broadband services using dishes from approximately 75 cm. It will also be used for community networks connected to Wi-Fi hotspots, mobile phone backhauling and rural connectivity. Eutelsat Konnect is the first to use Thales Alenia Space’s all-electric Spacebus NEO platform, developed under the Neosat Partnership Project conducted by the European and French space agencies (ESA and CNES). More robust, more modular, more powerful, more innovative, more flexible, this platform is perfectly adapted to operators' expectations in the evolving telecommunication market, and particlularly well positioned for very demanding VHTS missions. Eutelsat Konnect will allow the in-orbit validation of the complete end-to-end system of the new Spacebus Neo product line, including the fully-electric orbit-raising phase GSAT-30 is a telecommunications satellite designed and manufactured by ISRO. To be positioned at a longitude of 83° East, it will provide high-quality television, telecommunications and broadcasting services over Indian mainland and Islands. GSAT-30 is configured on ISRO’s enhanced I-3K platform to provide communications services from geostationary orbit in C-and Ku-band for a lifetime greater than 15 years. By operating GSAT-30, ISRO will once again foster the use of space to help bridge the digital divide in the Indian subcontinent as part of its ambitious space program. These objectives are to develop India by focusing on all types of space applications, including navigation, Earth observation, telecommunications and broadcasts of educational programs, while pursuing science research and planetary exploration.
Pad

Ariane Launch Area 3, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
108th launch from Ariane Launch Area 3, 1st this year · 298th from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
118 launches from this pad · 336 from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
50 days after the previous launch from this pad
All launches from Guiana Space Centre, French GuianaOpen in maps
Questions
When did Eutelsat Konnect & GSAT-30 launch?
Eutelsat Konnect & GSAT-30 launched on January 16, 2020. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.
Where can I watch Eutelsat Konnect & GSAT-30?
Coverage: Launch of GSAT-30 Satellite - LIVE from Kourou Launch Base, French Guyana; Flight VA251 – EUTELSAT KONNECT / GSAT-30 | Ariane 5 Launch | Arianespace; VA251 Eutelsat Konnect and GSAT-30 (January 16, 2020). Watch the replay
What rocket launched Eutelsat Konnect & GSAT-30?
Ariane 5 ECA, flown by Arianespace. Ariane 5 ECA spec sheet
Where did Eutelsat Konnect & GSAT-30 launch from?
Ariane Launch Area 3, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana.
What orbit did Eutelsat Konnect & GSAT-30 reach?
GSAT-30, one of 4 catalogued objects, reached a 251 × 35,771 km orbit inclined 6.0°.
How many satellites did Eutelsat Konnect & GSAT-30 launch?
2 payloads from this launch are catalogued, 2 of them still in orbit (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).
