[SatNews] Arianespace is reporting the initial assembly of the third Ariane 5 to be launched in 2010 has been completed at the Spaceport, as its ESC-A upper stage and vehicle equipment bay are now installed atop the vehicle's cryogenic core stage. Build-up of the heavy-lift Ariane 5 was performed in the Spaceport's Launcher Integration Building.

It is now being readied for transfer to the Final Assembly Building, which currently is occupied by an Ariane 5 scheduled for liftoff next Wednesday with the Arabsat-5A and COMS passengers on Arianespace's second flight of 2010. For the year's third mission of 2010, this latest Ariane 5 is to carry the RASCOM-QAF 1R and NILESAT

201 telecommunications payloads. Separately, Europe's next Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is being readied for pre-launch checkout at the Spaceport in preparation for its liftoff on an upcoming Ariane 5 mission. This Automated Transfer Vehicle, which is named after German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, will be the second such large spacecraft orbited by Arianespace for servicing of the International Space Station — following the Jules Verne ATV launched by an Ariane 5 in March 2008. The ATV is designed to deliver food, air and water for the International Space Station's crew, along with experiment equipment and spare parts, as well as other hardware. It also is used to raise the station's orbit when necessary, and removes waste when undocked from the facility at the completion of its mission.