Arianespace Maintains Launch Campaign Pace As Another Ariane 5 GEO Truck Takes Form
Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) May 28, 2007 Another Ariane 5 has started the assembly process at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana as Arianespace moves ahead with plans to conduct a total of six missions during 2007 with the workhorse launch vehicle. To meet the goal of performing its next two flights in an interval of less than one month, the vehicle now taking shape in the Launcher Integration Building is an Ariane 5 GS version, which is to orbit the Intelsat-11 and Horizons-2 satellites on a mission targeted for mid-September. This vehicle will go through its basic build-up process, which includes the positioning of its core cryogenic stage (shown in the photo at right), mating of the two large solid rocket boosters, followed by installation of the upper stage and vehicle equipment bay. When these steps are completed, the Ariane 5 GS will be transferred to the Spaceport's Final Assembly Building, freeing up the Launcher Integration Building for preparation of an Ariane 5 ECA. The heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA is to be used for a mission scheduled in mid-August, which will orbit the SPACEWAY 3 and BSAT-3A satellites. Once the Ariane 5 ECA's basic assembly is complete, a swap-out will occur at the Spaceport. The Ariane 5 ECA will move over to the Final Assembly Building for installation of its dual-satellite payload, while the Ariane 5 GS returns to the Launcher Integration Building, ready for final processing. The operational resources available for Arianespace - including the extensive ground infrastructure at Europe's Spaceport and its two mobile launch tables for Ariane 5 - provide the flexibility to perform two launch campaigns in parallel to meet the mission needs of its customers. Related Links Arianespace Launch Pad at Space-Travel.com
Ariane 5 Achieves Record Performance With Geostationary Transfer Orbit Paris, France (SPX) May 08, 2007 Ariane 5 delivered a record performance during Arianespace's second heavy-lift flight of 2007, deploying two large telecommunications satellites into highly accurate geostationary transfer orbit today. Launched from the ELA-3 complex at Europe's Spaceport, the Ariane 5 orbited ASTRA 1L for SES ASTRA and Galaxy 17 for Intelsat - marking the 18th consecutive success for Arianespace's workhorse launch vehicle. |
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