Arabsat-1A was launched by Arianespace using an Ariane 3 rocket flying from ELA-1 at Kourou. The launch took place at 23:22:00 UTC on 8 February 1985.[3] It was the first Spacebus satellite to be launched. Immediately after launch, one of its solar panels failed to deploy, resulting in reduced performance. It was placed into a geosynchronous orbit at a longitude of 19.0° East.[4] Following a series of gyroscope malfunctions, it was retired from active service, and remained operational as a backup.[2][5] In September 1991, another problem developed with the spacecraft's attitude control system, and it began to drift eastward. It failed completely in March 1992.[6]
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).
