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Satnews Daily
March 21st, 2017

Ongoing Launch Blockage — The Strike (A "Social Movement") Continues the Delay of an Arianespace Mission


The transfer of the Ariane 5 to the launch zone in French Guiana continues to delay the launch activities of Arianespace for Flight VA236, which will — eventually — carry the SGDC and KOREASAT-7 satellites to their orbital slots.

Should the situation improve, the new launch date for Flight VA236  is scheduled for Thursday, March 23, within the following launch window:

  • Between 4:31 p.m. and 7:20 p.m., Washington, D.C. time
  • Between 5:31 p.m. and 8:20 p.m., Kourou time in French Guiana
  • Between 5:31 p.m. and 8:20 p.m., Brasilia time
  • Between 20:31 and 23:20, Universal Time (UTC)
  • Between 21:31 p.m. and 00:20 p.m., Paris time during the night of March 23 to 24
  • Between 5:31 a.m. and 8:20 a.m., Seoul Time, South Korea, on March 24

Arianespace Flight VA236 will launch SGDC for Telebras S.A., performed within the framework of a contract with SGDC prime contractor VISIONA Tecnologia Espacial S.A.; and KOREASAT-7 for KTSAT.

An interesting situation at Arianespace today that has caused the delay of the transfer of the launch vehicle from the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building (BAF) to the launch zone. Due to a social movement, it was not possible to carry out today’s scheduled transfer of the launch vehicle from the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building (BAF) to the launch zone.

Officials blamed the postponement on a strike among a segment of the workforce at the Guiana Space Center, which is managed by CNES, the French space agency, with support from the European Space Agency and numerous European contractors. 

As a result, Arianespace has decided to postpone the transfer by 24 hours, with operations resuming tomorrow, Tuesday, March 21, 2017, if the situation permits. The launch vehicle, as well as its SGDC and KOREASAT-7 satellite payloads, have been placed in a stand-by mode and are being maintained in fully safe conditions.

Apparently this isn't the first time that labor issues at the spaceport caused the delay of launches, most recently in 2011 when the operators of radar tracking systems in French Guiana went on strike. The workers striking Monday work for the contractor responsible for rolling out the Ariane 5 launcher to the pad.

Arianespace Flight VA236 – which is scheduled to launch SGDC for Telebras S.A., performed within the framework of a contract with SGDC prime contractor VISIONA Tecnologia Espacial S.A.; and KOREASAT-7 for ktsat – is now scheduled for: Wednesday, March 22, 2017 as early as possible within the following launch window:

Between 4:31 p.m. and 7:20 p.m., Washington D.C. time
Between 5:31 p.m. and 8:20 p.m., Kourou time in French Guiana
Between 5:31 p.m. and 8:20 p.m., Brasilia time
Between 20:31 and 23:20, Universal Time (UTC)
Between 21:31 p.m. and 00:20 p.m., Paris time during the night of March 22 to 23
Between 5:31 a.m. and 8:20 a.m., Seoul Time, South Korea, on March 23