Arianespace’s seventh and final Ariane 5 launch of 2009 has been given the green light, clearing this mission for a mid-day liftoff on December 9 with the French Helios 2B military observation satellite. The flight’s go-ahead was granted after a launch readiness review, which is held before every Ariane mission to validate the Ariane 5’s status, along with its payload, the launch infrastructure at Europe’s Spaceport, and the network of ground tracking stations.

This approval clears the way for the Tuesday morning rollout of the Ariane 5 GS from its Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch zone . Liftoff of the workhorse Arianespace launch vehicle is set for 1:26 p.m. on December 9, with Helios 2B being injected into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit during a mission lasting 59 min., 23 seconds.  The satellite will weigh approximately 4,200 kg. at liftoff, and is the second platform in a new-generation spaceborne observation system for military applications.  This reconnaissance capability was created by France in conjunction with Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece. Helios 2B was produced by EADS Astrium as prime contractor, and the spacecraft’s European industrial team also includes Thales Alenia Space, which supplied the reconnaissance satellite’s high resolution imaging instrument.  

The Helios 2B program manager is the French DGA (Direction générale de l’armement) defense procurement agency, which assigned contracting authority for the space segment to the country’s CNES space agency — the direct customer for Arianespace on this December 9 mission.