Arianespace is keeping up its mission pace as three Ariane 5s are now in process at French Guiana – including the vehicle for tomorrow night's flight (August 21), which has rolled out to the launch pad with a payload of two telecommunications satellites.
A total of seven Ariane 5 missions are targeted for 2009 – making it the busiest year of activity since Arianespace's commercial introduction of the workhorse launcher in 1999.
Tomorrow's launch will orbit U.S.-built payloads for two key Arianespace customers in the Asia-Pacific region: JCSAT-12 for Japan's SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, and Optus D3 for the Optus telecommunications provider of Australia.
These two satellites weigh a combined total of 6,500 kg., and they will be injected into geostationary transfer orbit during a flight lasting just over 34 minutes.
The Ariane 5 for this mission – Arianespace's fourth of 2009 – was transferred from the Spaceport's Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch zone.
It rode atop one of two mobile launch tables in operation for Ariane 5, and has now been positioned for tomorrow's liftoff during a one-hour launch window that begins at 7:09 p.m. local time in French Guiana.
Its rollout opens the Final Assembly Building to receive the Ariane 5 for Arianespace's subsequent mission, which has completed its initial build-up in the Spaceport's Launcher Integration Building.
Separately, the components for another Ariane 5 arrived in French Guiana yesterday, delivered by the MN Colibri – which is one of two roll-on/roll-off sea-going vessels operated for Arianespace to transport launch vehicles from their European manufacturers to South America.
The elements for this latest Ariane 5 will be moved by road from Pariacabo port near Kourou to the Spaceport, enabling its assembly to begin shortly in the Launcher Integration Building.
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