Ariane 5's first launch of the year

The Ariane 5 launched 2 key satellites, Sky Brasil 1 and Telcom 3S at 4:39pm EST from French Guiana. Sky Brasil 1 is going to support subscription television services by DirecTV, a subsidiary of AT&T.  Weighing in at over 13,000lbs, the satellite has 60 Ku-band transponders onboard and will be positioned along the equator at 43.1 degrees west longitude. Sky Brasil 1 will replace the Intelsat 9 satellite which has been in orbit since July 2000. The Telkom 3S satellite is being launched to help support high-definition television broadcasts, communications, and internet services. The satellites carried 32 C-band and 10 Ku-band transponders and is owned by Telkom Indonesia. It weighs in at about 7,800lbs and was built by Thales Alenia Space and will reach customers across Indonesia, Malaysia, and other parts of Southeast Asia. Telkom will be replacing Telkom 2 which was launched n November 2005.