During the extremely informative and successful CEBA thematic school in Kourou, French Guiana CNES has launched an Ariane 5 rocket on Flight VA239 being the ninth launch in 2017. Conducted from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone the successful mission delivered an estimated payload lift performance of 10,838 kg to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

The mission carried Intelsat 37e for global operator Intelsat; along with BSAT-4a, which was launched as part of a turnkey contract between Japan’s Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) and U.S.-based satellite manufacturer SSL. Intelsat 37e was deployed first in the flight sequence, separating from Ariane 5 at 29 minutes after liftoff, followed approximately 18 minutes later by BSAT-4a.