Al Yah 3 is a geostationary communications satellite built by Orbital ATK for Yahsat. It weighs 3790 kg, carries 53 Ka-band user beams and 4 gateway beams, and is intended for 15 years of operation in orbit. Al Yah 3 will provide telecommunication services to Africa and Brazil. SES-14 is also a communications satellite to be placed in geostationary orbit, replacing NSS-806 satellite. SES-14 coverage includes the Americas and the North Atlantic Region. Spacecraft also carries a hosted payload for NASA, Global-Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission, which will be imaging Earth's thermosphere and ionospehere for two years.

Ariane 5 is a heavy-lift launch vehicle, part of the Ariane rocket family.

Arianespace SA is a multinational company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane programme. Their vehicles launch exclusively from French Guiana in South America.