Mon, May 16, 2011
Assembly Underway on Ariane 5 Booster For Upcoming Launch
The Ariane 5 for Arianespace's fourth heavy-lift mission of 2011
has begun its initial build-up at the Spaceport, and joined another
launch campaign being conducted in parallel.
Assembly of this latest Ariane 5 follows the same procedures as
employed for the 58 launchers that preceded it, with activity
beginning in the Launcher Integration Building. The core
cryogenic stage was raised into position over one of two mobile
launch tables in service at the spaceport, and was followed by the
positioning of two solid propellant boosters for mating with the
core stage.
Arianespace's upcoming flight ... designated VA203, for the
203rd mission with an Ariane family launcher ... will mark
another of Ariane 5's dual-payload missions, carrying two TV
broadcast and telecommunications relay satellites.
BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R is a co-procured spacecraft by Japan's
Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) and SKY Perfect
JSAT Corporation, with its launch to be performed by Arianespace in
the scope of a turnkey launch contract with American manufacturer
Lockheed Martin. ASTRA 1N will be operated by Luxemburg-based SES,
which has a multi-launch agreement with Arianespace that also
includes the orbiting of its SES 2 satellite in 2011.
The Ariane 5 mission with BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R and ASTRA 1N will
follow Arianespace's upcoming VA202 heavy-lift launch, which is to
loft the ST-2 and GSAT-8 satellites on May 19. This launcher
currently is in the spaceport's Final Assembly Building, where
payload integration is now underway.
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