Arianespace has taken delivery of the Ariane 5 ECA for its fifth heavy-lift mission of 2011 (Flight VA204) at the Spaceport in French Guiana, which will orbit the Arabsat-5C and SES-2 telecommunications satellites on September 9th. The vehicle's handover came with its transfer yesterday evening from the Spaceport's Launcher Integration Building, where it was assembled by prime contractor EADS Astrium, to the Final Assembly Building, providing Arianespace the responsibility for integration of the two payloads and launch operations for the Ariane 5.
Arabsat-5C will have an estimated launch mass of 4,630 kg., while SES-2 will weigh in at approximately 3,152 kg. for liftoff. Built in a joint effort of Europe's EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, Arabsat-5C is a fifth-generation satellite for the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat). This multi-mission platform is designed to provide capacity in both the C- and Ka-bands for a range of communications services from Arabsat's 20 degrees East orbital position.
SES-2 was produced by the U.S.-based Orbital Sciences Corporation for SES WORLD SKIES and is a hybrid C- and Ku-band spacecraft that will serve North America from an orbital slot of 87 degrees West. Additionally, it carries the Commercially Hosted InfraRed Payload (CHIRP) for the U.S. Air Force, which integrates a wide-field of view sensor in the satellite.
The Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s upcoming heavy-lift mission with Arabsat-5C and SES-2 moves away from the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building (at left) on its way to the Final Assembly Building.