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Kourou, French Guianad (SPX) Feb 25, 2010 Both payloads for Arianespace's initial Ariane 5 flight of 2010 are now in French Guiana, following last week's arrival of COMSATBw-2 at Rochambeau International Airport near the capital city of Cayenne. COMSATBw-2 is a secure relay platform that will deliver key services for the German Bundeswehr (German armed forces), and is a follow-on spacecraft to COMSATBw-1 - which was orbited by Ariane 5 in October 2009. Together, the COMSATBw satellites will provide a secure broadband network which guarantees uninterrupted communications between the government, military authorities and armed forces deployed around the world. Based on the Spacebus 3000B2 platform, COMSATBw-2 was designed, integrated and tested by satellite prime contractor Thales Alenia Space on behalf of EADS Astrium - which is the program's space segment prime contractor. With this spacecraft's delivery to French Guiana, COMSATBw-2 joins its "sister" payload for the upcoming mission - ASTRA 3B, which currently is undergoing pre-launch checkout at the Spaceport. ASTRA 3B was built by Astrium for commercial telecommunications operator SES ASTRA. An Ariane 5 ECA will orbit COMSATBw-2 and ASTRA 3B from Europe's Spaceport on March 24. This year-opening flight will initiate Arianespace's busy launch schedule in 2010, which plans for seven missions with the heavy-lift vehicle.
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Related Links Arianespace Launch Pad at Space-Travel.com
Payload Prep Underway For Arianespace's First Launch Of 2010Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Feb 24, 2010 The first-arrived payload for Ariane 5's year-opening flight is undergoing initial checkout at Europe's Spaceport as preparations move forward for a dual-passenger mission set for March 24. After ASTRA 3B's delivery in French Guiana earlier this month, the spacecraft was moved into the Spaceport's S5 facility - where it has since undergone initial fit-check validation with the adapter that ... read more |
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