Ariane Flight VA211 Will Launch Satellites For The Mexican Government
Arianespace’s seventh and final Ariane 5 launch of 2012 is "go" for liftoff following a successful launch readiness review performed at the Spaceport in French Guiana. The review is held prior to each Ariane 5 mission, ensuring that the heavy-lift launch vehicle and its payload are flight-ready, along with the Spaceport’s infrastructure and the network of downrange tracking stations.
This approval cleared the way for Ariane 5’s rollout from the Final Assembly Building to Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 at the Spaceport – positioning it for liftoff on Wednesday, December 19 during a launch window that opens at 1849 and continues to 2008 local time in French Guiana.
This flight will orbit a dual-passenger payload of the Mexsat Bicentenario telecommunications satellite for the Mexican Secretariat of Communications and Transport, along with the Skynet 5D secure military communications relay platform for the European operator Astrium Services, on behalf of the British Ministry of Defence.
Skynet 5D was built by Astrium Satellites of Stevenage, England, and will be the 38th military payload lofted by the Ariane launcher family. Based on the Eurostar E3000 platform, it has an expected lifetime of 15 years and will be the 89th Astrium satellite launched by Arianespace. The spacecraft will be operated from a geostationary orbital position of 25 deg. East following its deployment.
Mexsat Bicentenario was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, based on its GEOStar-2 platform. This will be the fifth Mexican satellite launched by Ariane and the 23rd Orbital-built satellite to be transported by Arianespace. The spacecraft has a design lifetime of 16 years. It will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 114.9 deg. West to provide communication services to Mexico and its surrounding waters.
This year-ending Ariane 5 mission is designated VA211 in Arianespace’s flight numbering system, signifying the 211th Ariane family liftoff from the Spaceport in French Guiana.
Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]
Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]
Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]
From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]
Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]