Starsem’s 11th flight for Globalstar orbits another six second-generation satellites

December 29, 2011

The 24th mission for Starsem since operations began in 1999 orbited six more second-generation satellites for Globalstar today, extending the successful relationship with this first customer for the launch services company.

This image shows Soyuz at the start of its climb-out from Baikonur Cosmodrome on the ST24 mission. Four arms that suspended the vehicle over its launch pad begin their tilt-back movement after being opened by Soyuz’ upward motion.

Today’s mission, performed from Baikonur Cosmodrome on behalf of Starsem parent company Arianespace, was the third of four such launches contracted by Globalstar for its latest series of spacecraft, and the six payloads orbited during the 1 hour, 40 minute mission will join Globalstar’s constellation that provides voice, Duplex and Simplex data products and services.

The liftoff occurred at 11:09 p.m. local time on December 28 from Baikonur Cosmodrome’s Launch Pad #6 and was the 1,784th flight of a Soyuz family vehicle.  During the mission, Soyuz’ re-ignitable Fregat upper stage performed two propulsive burns separated by a coast phase of approximately 50 minutes, followed by the Globalstar satellites’ separation in a two-step process.   The initial spacecraft pair was released from the upper portion of a purpose-built dispenser system, followed 1 minute, 40 seconds later by the remaining four satellites’ separation from the dispenser’s lower section.

“This demonstrates once again that Soyuz, its Fregat upper stage and the dispenser system are the right choice to launch the Globalstar 2 constellation,” stated Jean-Yves Le Gall, the Chairman & CEO of both Starsem and Arianespace.  “Tonight was the 11th launch that Starsem and Arianespace have performed for Globalstar, and I want to thank Globalstar for its confidence.  We already are preparing the 12th launch, which will occur next year.”

Anthony J. Navarra, Globalstar’s President of Global Operations, was at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site for today’s mission and quickly confirmed the six satellites’ separation and their good health. 

“I cannot express my gratitude enough for all of the hard work that has been done by Arianespace and Starsem, and for all of the teams’ excellent work,” Navarra said.  "These satellites were flawlessly placed exactly where we needed them so that our ground stations could find them on the very first pass.  It's amazing that we can find six satellites within 30 minutes of them being placed into space.  Only Arianespace has done that so well over all the years we have worked together."

Globalstar’s second-generation platforms are trapezoidal-shaped to facilitate their integration under the Soyuz payload fairing, and they weighed approximately 650 kg. each at launch.

This flight utilized the same basic modernized Soyuz version that Arianespace introduced at the Spaceport in French Guiana during 2011, and was equipped with the ST-type fairing with an external diameter of 4.1 meters and a length of 11.4 meters.

Today’s launch was designated ST24 in company’s numbering sequence, signifying the 24th flight performed by its Starsem affiliate since the inaugural 1999 mission – which carried four Globalstar first-generation satellites. 

Follow Starsem’s ST24 mission activity with the update stories: Soyuz is poised for liftoff from Baikonur Cosmodrome with Globalstar second-generation satellites (December 27, 2011) Six more Globalstar satellites are ready for launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Soyuz (December 19, 2011)