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Sixth Ariane 5 Mission Of 2007 Set For December 20 Launch
Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Dec 20, 2007 Arianespace's sixth mission with the workhorse Ariane 5 in 2007 has been given its go-ahead for liftoff on December 20, following the Launch Readiness Review at the Spaceport in French Guiana. This review is one of the final milestones before every Ariane flight, and it verifies the readiness of all mission elements - including the launcher, its payload, the infrastructure at Europe's Spaceport, and the network of ground tracking stations. All is now set for the launch, which will mark the first time Arianespace has performed six Ariane 5 flights in one year. Rollout of the Ariane 5 GS vehicle to the Spaceport's ELA-3 launch zone will occur tomorrow, followed by the final countdown leading to a liftoff scheduled at 6:14 p.m. local time in French Guiana. As with the previous five missions performed in 2007, the Ariane 5 carries a dual satellite payload. The upper passenger its payload "stack" is RASCOM-QAF1, which will be deployed at 28 min. 30 sec. into the flight. This will be followed by Horizons-2, which is to be released four minutes later. Rascom 1 is the first pan-African telecommunications satellite, and it was built by Europe's Thales Alenia Space as part of a turnkey contract with Regional African Satellite Communication Organization (RascomStar-QAF). This spacecraft weighs approximately 3,200 kg. at launch, and is to provide services in rural areas of Africa, as well as domestic and international connections, direct TV broadcast services and Internet access through the continent. The 2,300-kg. Horizons-2 payload was produced by United States-based Orbital Sciences to meet the growing demand for telecommunications, HDTV and IP-based content distribution in North America. To be operated by the Horizons 2 Satellite LLC joint venture of Intelsat and Japan's JSAT, this satellite features both a continental U.S. beam and an East Coast beam - which extends the spacecraft's coverage to include the Caribbean and parts of Canada. Related Links Launch Pad at Space-Travel.com
HISPASAT Chooses Arianespace To Launch The Amazonas 2 Satellite
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Dec 14, 2007HISPASAT has awarded Arianespace the launching of their new communications satellite, the Amazonas 2, which will be situated in the orbital position 61 West. With this new launch, planned for 2009, the group takes one more step in the process of growth and consolidation of this orbital position. |
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