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LAUNCH PAD
Payloads Installed Atop Ariane 5

Ariane 5's upper payload component, the encapsulated Satmex 6, is readied for installation atop the launcher. Satmex 6 is installed on a SYLDA 5 payload dispenser, which enables the upper payload component to be placed over the Thaicom 5 lower passenger. Thaicom 5, already mated to the Ariane 5, is partly visible in the foreground. Image credit: Arianespace
by Staff Writers
 Kourou, French Guyana (SPX) May 19, 2006
 Launch team members topped off the Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift launcher Thursday by completing integration of its two satellite payloads, which have a combined weight of about 8.3 metric tons (18,600 pounds). The launch remains scheduled for May 26.

Ariane 5's upper payload, the Satmex 6, will have a liftoff mass of about 5,700 kilograms (12,450 pounds). It will be utilized by Satelites Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V. to provide coverage over the Continental United States, Mexico and South America.

Satmex 6 is based on Space Systems/Loral's FS-1300X satellite bus and carries a mixed relay payload of 36 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders.

Thaicom 5, the lower payload, was built by Alcatel Alenia Space and is based on the European manufacturer's Spacebus satellite design. The spacecraft will have a liftoff mass of approximately 2,800 kilograms (6,160 pounds).

Thaicom 5 will be operated by Thailand's Shin Satellite Public Company Limited for Ku-band and C-band telecommunications and television services throughout the Asia/Pacific region, and is to be located at an orbital position of 78.5 degrees east longitude.

The three-axis stabilized spacecraft will allow Shin Satellite to retire its Thaicom 1 and Thaicom 2 satellites, launched by Arianespace in 1993 and 1994, respectively.

Arianespace also orbited Shin Satellite's Thaicom 1 spacecraft in 1997, and an Ariane 5 lofted the heavyweight Thaicom 4 platform in August 2005. Thaicom 4 boasted a record mass of 6,485 kilograms (14,260 pounds).

Related Links
 Arianespace

LAUNCH PAD
Arianespace Will Launch Eutelsat W2M
 Paris, France (SPX) May 19, 2006
 Eutelsat and Arianespace announced Thursday they have signed a launch contract for the W2M satellite. The spacecraft will be carried into orbit by an Ariane 5 rocket sometime in the second quarter of 2008 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guyana.
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