Star One is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian communication satellite company. It is a subsidiary of Embratel

Embratel

Embratel - Empresa Brasileira de Telecomunicações S.A. is a second major Brazilian telecommunications company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. The company was the long distance arm of Telebras until it was bought by the U.S. company MCI Communications for 2.65 billion reais during the 1998...

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Satellite fleet

Star One own a small fleet of satellites. The Star One C1 was launched atop an Ariane 5-ECA

Ariane 5

Ariane 5 is, as a part of Ariane rocket family, an expendable launch system used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit . Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales...

 rocket at 22:06 GMT on November 14, 2007. This launch had previously been delayed from November 9 due to a problem with the rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

, and then from November 12 due to a problem with the launch pad.

Star One C1 was built by Thales Alenia Space

Thales Alenia Space

Thales Alenia Space is an aerospace company born after the Thales Group bought the participation of Alcatel in the two joint-ventures between Alcatel and Finmeccanica, Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio.-History:...

 based on a Spacebus

Spacebus

Spacebus is a satellite bus produced at the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center in France by Thales Alenia Space. Spacebuses are typically used for geostationary communications satellites, and fifty-two have been launched since development started in the 1980s. Spacebus was originally produced by...

 3000 B3 platform. It has 28 C-band transponders, 14 Ku-band transponders and one X-band transponder, and weighed about 4100 kilograms (9,039 lb) at launch.

The second spacecraft, Star One C2

Star One C2

Star One C2 is a Brazilian communications satellite. It was launched on 18 April 2008 by an Ariane 5ECA carrier rocket, as part of a dual-payload launch with Vinasat-1. It was built by Thales Alenia Space, based on the Spacebus-3000B3 satellite bus...

, was launched at 22:17 GMT on April 18, 2008, also aboard an Ariane 5ECA

Ariane 5

Ariane 5 is, as a part of Ariane rocket family, an expendable launch system used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit . Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales...

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