Ariane Flight VA203 Has Been Approved For Launch July 1

The go-ahead for Arianespace's fourth heavy-lift mission of 2011 - and the 59th for its workhorse Ariane 5 was given Wednesday afternoon following the launch readiness review, which is held prior to each Arianespace mission.

For the upcoming flight, Ariane 5 will carry a total estimated payload of just over 20,000 pounds, including bout 18,000 pounds for the ASTRA 1N and BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R satellite passengers.

ASTRA 1N is located in the upper position of Ariane 5's payload "stack" and will be released first during the mission sequence. It is a state-of-the-art Ku-band spacecraft for the delivery of pan-European direct-to-home TV broadcast services for satellite operator SES ASTRA.

This spacecraft was built by EADS Astrium using its Eurostar E3000 spacecraft bus, and initially will provide interim capacity from an orbital position of 28.2 deg. East. The relay platform subsequently will be moved to SES ASTRA's prime location at 19.2 deg. East for primary and backup services.

Riding in the Ariane 5's lower payload position is BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R - a hybrid TV broadcast and telecommunications satellite manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems on behalf of B-SAT Corporation and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation.

FMI: www.arianespace.com