 |
| The Ariane 5
for Flight 166 is transferred to the Final Assembly Building,
where its payload will be installed.
(Arianespace/CNES photo) |
KOUROU, French Guiana, May 4,
2005/Satnews Daily
¾
Arianespace announced on Tuesday activity
at its Spaceport is in full swing as preparations move forward for two
upcoming Ariane 5 launches from French Guiana.
Arianespace said the
Ariane 5 generic vehicle for Flight 166 has been transferred to the
Spaceport's Final Assembly Building, readying it for the installation of
mission's satellite payload and freeing up the Launcher Integration
Building for the startup of assembly with another Ariane 5.
As soon as Ariane 5 had left the
Launcher Integration Building, the cryogenic core central stage for
Flight 167's Ariane 5 was erected on its launch table - formally
initiating this second active mission campaign.
Arianespace said its ability to
conduct two missions in parallel is part of the designed-in flexibility
at Ariane 5's modern ELA-3 launch complex.
The vehicle build-up process
begins in the Launcher Integration Building, where an Ariane 5's
cryogenic core stage and solid rocket motors are mated atop a mobile
launch table. This is followed by installation of the vehicle equipment
bay (which carries the power distribution system, flight control unit,
telemetry system and other flight guidance components), and the upper
stage.
The cryogenic core stage for
Flight 167’s Ariane 5 was delivered from Europe aboard the MS Toucan
roll-on/roll-off ship.
The nearly complete launcher is
then rolled out on its mobile launch table to the Final Assembly
Building, where the satellite passengers are installed and encapsulated
in Ariane's protective payload fairing.
With Flight 166's Ariane 5 now in
the Final Assembly Building on one launch table and Flight 167's Ariane
5 taking shape in the Launcher Integration Building on the second table,
Arianespace said it is ready to meet its plans of performing four Ariane
5 missions during the upcoming months.
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