Spainsat touched down at Cayenne's Rochambeau International Airport on January 24, aboard an Antonov AN-124 cargo aircraft, and the spacecraft was transported by road to the Spaceport.

After its transfer into the S5 satellite preparation facility, Spainsat was removed from the environmentally-controlled shipping container and underwent an initial checkout.

On January 25, a fit-check was made with the cone-shaped adapter that will serve as the interface between Spainsat and the Ariane 5 launcher.

The X-band Spainsat satellite is to be operated by Spain's Hisdesat for the Spanish Defense Ministry, and will be used for government telecommunications. A portion of its capacity will also be booked by XTAR - a joint venture satellite communications company created by Hisdesat and Loral Space & Communications - to serve the needs of other government customers.

Spainsat was built by Space Systems/Loral and will be located at an orbital slot of 30 deg. West longitude after launch. It will be carried on the Ariane 5 ECA, along with Eutelsat's Hot Bird 7A spacecraft, which arrived at the Spaceport on January 19. Liftoff of the heavy-lift Ariane 5 is targeted for February 21.

Ariane 5's dual-payload capability is an important part of Arianespace's operational flexibility, allowing the company to pair up satellites on a single flight to meet customers' scheduling and mission requirements.

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