The V113 vehicle used the lightest stages available at the factory, and the fuel in the lower stages was kept at a lower temperature than usual to increase its density and allow a few extra kilograms to be loaded - they ended up with more than 230 tonnes in the L220 first stage. The lower payload is the GE-5 satellite, with C and Ku band transponders to augment the GE Americom system. This allowed Dornier and Alcatel to deliver the satellite in a record twelve months. The upper payload was the first WorldSpace satellite, Afristar. Afristar will broadcast digital radio over Africa and the Middle East.
Broadcasters send their programs up to the satellite with a small X-band ground station.
It will be followed next year by Asiastar and Ameristar. Prime contractor for the combined satellite and comms payload is Alcatel. The WorldSpace project is led by Ethiopian-born Noah Samara, whose ebullient personality was very much in evidence at CSG during the V113 launch. Another of the leading figures in WorldSpace, chief engineer Pierre Madon, was feted for completing a notable career in aerospace which included a leading role in the first French rocket program Diamant and the Symphonie comsat of the 1970s, as well as a long career at Intelsat. The Ariane launch vehicle was developed by the European Space Agency, ESA, together with CNES, and is operated by the Arianespace company.