Wed, Oct 14, 2009
Commercial Launch Provider On Track For Busiest Heavy-Lift Year
Ever
The next Ariane 5 mission has moved
into its final preparation phase as the vehicle for this sixth
flight of 2009 is delivered to Arianespace. The delivery
keeps the company on track for its busiest year of launch
activity ever with the commercial heavy-lift workhorse.
Following its rollout from the Spaceport's Launcher Integration
Building in French Guiana - where the vehicle's basic build-up was
performed by prime contractor EADS Astrium Space Transportation -
the Ariane 5 ECA was transferred to the Final Assembly Building,
where its dual payload will be installed under Arianespace
responsibility.
The mission is scheduled for liftoff late this month, carrying
SES WORLD SKIES' NSS-12 spacecraft and THOR 6 for Telenor Satellite
Broadcasting.
NSS-12 was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral based on the
company's 1300 spacecraft platform and is designed to reach an
estimated two-thirds of the world's population. It will replace
NSS-703 at 57 degrees east. Its direct-to-home coverage will be
handled through four regional Ku-band spot beams covering the
Middle East and Europe, Central and South Asia and - for the first
time - East Africa.
The second payload for Arianespace's next Ariane 5 mission is
THOR 6, which is to deliver high-power direct-to-home television
services from the 1 degree west orbital position. This relay
platform will strengthen Telenor Satellite Broadcasting's
television broadcast coverage over Central and Eastern Europe,
while also providing additional capacity in the Nordic region.
The upcoming mission with THOR 6 and NSS-12 maintains
Arianespace's sustained launch pace in 2009, during which the
company plans a record seven Ariane 5 flights. It follows the
launcher's most recent success: the October 1st flight that orbited
the Amazonas 2 civilian relay platform for Spain's HISPASAT and the
German COMSATBw-1 secure military communications satellite.
More News
Aero Linx: International Flying Farmers IFF is a not-for-profit organization started in 1944 by farmers who were also private pilots. We have members all across the United States a>[...]
From 2017 (YouTube Version): Remembrances Of An Israeli Air Force Test Pilot Early in 2016, ANN contributor Maxine Scheer traveled to Israel, where she had the opportunity to sit d>[...]
"We renegotiated what our debt restructuring is on a lot of our debts, mostly with the family. Those debts are going to be converted into equity..." Source: Excerpts from a short v>[...]
Also: B-29 Superfortress Reunion, FAA Wants Controllers, Spirit Airlines Pulls Back, Gogo Galileo Van's Aircraft posted a short video recapping the goings-on around their reorganiz>[...]
Chart Supplement US A flight information publication designed for use with appropriate IFR or VFR charts which contains data on all airports, seaplane bases, and heliports open to >[...]
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
See All