Mon, May 16, 2011
Assembly Underway on Ariane 5 Booster For Upcoming Launch
The Ariane 5 for Arianespace's fourth heavy-lift mission of 2011
has begun its initial build-up at the Spaceport, and joined another
launch campaign being conducted in parallel.
Assembly of this latest Ariane 5 follows the same procedures as
employed for the 58 launchers that preceded it, with activity
beginning in the Launcher Integration Building. The core
cryogenic stage was raised into position over one of two mobile
launch tables in service at the spaceport, and was followed by the
positioning of two solid propellant boosters for mating with the
core stage.
Arianespace's upcoming flight ... designated VA203, for the
203rd mission with an Ariane family launcher ... will mark
another of Ariane 5's dual-payload missions, carrying two TV
broadcast and telecommunications relay satellites.
BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R is a co-procured spacecraft by Japan's
Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) and SKY Perfect
JSAT Corporation, with its launch to be performed by Arianespace in
the scope of a turnkey launch contract with American manufacturer
Lockheed Martin. ASTRA 1N will be operated by Luxemburg-based SES,
which has a multi-launch agreement with Arianespace that also
includes the orbiting of its SES 2 satellite in 2011.
The Ariane 5 mission with BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R and ASTRA 1N will
follow Arianespace's upcoming VA202 heavy-lift launch, which is to
loft the ST-2 and GSAT-8 satellites on May 19. This launcher
currently is in the spaceport's Final Assembly Building, where
payload integration is now underway.
More News
Improvements Stack as Brand Readies for Mass Production Samson Sky updated followers on its flying car progress, describing some of the travails of the wind tunnel as they get clos>[...]
LAHSO An acronym for “Land and Hold Short Operation.” These operations include landing and holding short of an intersecting runway, a taxiway, a predetermined point, or>[...]
Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories ITBOA BNITBOB ... what does that mean? It's not gibberish, it's a lengthy acronym for "In The Business Of Aviation ... But Not In The Busine>[...]
Aero Linx: Space Medicine Association (SMA) The Space Medicine Branch was founded in 1951 as the first constituent organization of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA). In 2006>[...]
Back-Taxi A term used by air traffic controllers to taxi an aircraft on the runway opposite to the traffic flow. The aircraft may be instructed to back-taxi to the beginning of the>[...]