Yahsat set on creating a launch pad for the UAE in space exploration

One day in the future – and the not too distant future at that – an Ariane 5 ES heavy-lift rocket will rise from its launch site in French Guiana on the east coast of South America in a thunderous burst of smoke and fire.

Burning for exactly 130 seconds, the two solid-fuel boosters will produce 722 tonnes of thrust and a speed of two kilometres per second, before detaching and tumbling back into the Atlantic Ocean. The main engine, powered by liquid hydrogen and oxygen, will continue to power until 605 seconds have passed.

At an altitude of 178 kilometres, explosive bolts will detach at the 24-metre first stage, with the upper-stage engine continuing to power Ariane onward and upwards, until, after approximately 25 minutes and at an altitude of 36,000km, the nose cone will split in two, gently ejecting Al Yah 3, the UAE’s latest commercial satellite, into geostationary orbit.

Then, and only then, will the entire team at the Yahsat control centre, on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, let out a collective sigh of relief.

The launch of Al Yah 3, scheduled for the third quarter of 2016, will be the latest step in the UAE’s ambition to become one of the heavy hitters in the commercial satellite industry.

Original article by James Langton

Continue reading at The National:

Yahsat set on creating a launch pad for the UAE in space exploration