Preparations are starting for another busy year of Arianespace launch activity. The initial Ariane 5 of 2009 has now been delivered to the Spaceport in French Guiana. The heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA arrived this week aboard the MN Colibri, one of two ocean-going vessels that transport launch vehicles from their European manufacturers to South America. After docking at the Pariacabo port near Kourou, the Ariane 5’s components were unloaded and transported by road to the Spaceport. This launcher will be used in the first of as many as eight Ariane 5 missions that are targeted in 2009. In 2008, Ariane 5 performed five flights, with one additional mission scheduled before the end of the year. Arianespace has already demonstrated its capability to accelerate Ariane 5’s launch cadence with the nine fights performed in a 12-month period from August 2007 to August 2008. (Photo, courtesy of Arianespace, is of the arrival of the first Ariane 5 for 2009 at the Spaceport.)