|
Kourou, French
Guiana, Oct. 19/Satnews Daily/
—
Activity at
Arianespace’s Spaceport is now in
full swing as
preparations move forward in parallel for two Arianespace Ariane 5
missions.
Arianespace said preparation for
Flight 164, the
Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift vehicle, has been moved back to the final
assembly building after completing a countdown validation test that
included fueling the vehicle's ESC-A cryogenic upper stage.
The countdown validation was performed with the Ariane 5 ECA in the
Spaceport's ELA-3 launch zone.
The ESC-A upper stage is new for the "10-ton" Ariane 5 ECA version, and
is based on the HM-7B third stage engine that provided years of reliable
service on Ariane 4.
Flight 164 will carry the XTAR-EUR satellite - which will provide X-band
relay capacity for the U.S., Spanish and allied governments, along with
an experimental/test payload consisting of the Sloshsat mini satellite
and the Maqsat B2 telemetry/video imaging package.
Arianespace said the first activity for Flight 165 has also begun
following the arrival of this mission's payload - a governmental
spacecraft for France. The payload arrived October 14 at French Guiana's
primary airport, Cayenne's Rochambeau International, aboard an Airbus
Transport International A300-600ST Beluga cargo aircraft.
Flight 165 will use an Ariane 5 Generic launcher version to orbit the
French governmental spacecraft.
Recent Stories:
Arianespace to Launch
50 Nanosatellites in Historic Mission
AirTV Chooses Arianespace to Launch its First Broadband
Satellite in 2007
Arianespace Wins Launch Contracts with
DirecTV, PanAmSat
|
