...is now taking shape at the Spaceport, using procedures that have become routine with this workhorse vehicle’s operations from French Guiana. During activity inside the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building, the core cryogenic stage was removed from its protective shipping container and raised into position over one of two operational mobile launch tables available for Ariane 5. The pair of solid propellant boosters were then anchored to the launch table on each side of the core stage this weekend, readying them for mating to complete the vehicle’s initial assembly step.

Ariane 5’s core cryogenic stage is lifted from its protective shipping container (photo at left) and raised over the mobile launch table in the Launcher Integration Building (center photo). At right, the first of two solid propellant boosters rolls out for its rendezvous and mating with the core stage. Photo courtesy of Arianespace.

This Ariane 5 will be used on a flight scheduled for June 19th with Europe’s Meteosat Second Generation-3 (MSG-3) weather satellite for the European Space Agency and EUMETSAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites); along with the EchoStar XVII high-throughput telecommunications platform for Hughes Network Systems.