The ELA-3 launch zone at Europe’s Spaceport welcomed its 42nd Ariane 5 today as the heavy-lift vehicle with Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ 9 and W2M satellites rolled out for a liftoff tomorrow evening on the final Arianespace mission of 2008.
Sunny skies greeted the Ariane 5 ECA as it departed the Final Assembly Building at 11:00 a.m. for a 2.8-km. transfer to the ELA-3 launch area. Riding atop one of two mobile launch tables available for Ariane 5 mission operations, the vehicle arrived on the launch pad 1 hr. 15 min. later, where it was secured in place.
Tomorrow’s liftoff is scheduled at the 6:51 p.m. opening of a 59-minute launch window, with the two Eutelsat satellites to be deployed during a flight lasting approximately 32 minutes.
HOT BIRD 9 is installed in the upper position of Ariane 5’s dual payload “stack,” and will be released first during the mission sequence. This spacecraft was produced by EADS Astrium and carries 64 Ku-band transponders for the broadcast of digital and new high-definition TV channels, as well as interactive services. After its deployment by Ariane 5, it will be located at Eutelsat’s premium video neighborhood orbital slot of 13 deg. East, with a coverage area extending throughout Europe, as well as to North Africa and the Middle East.
The W2M satellite, which is carried in Ariane 5’s lower passenger slot, was built by a European-Indian joint effort involving EADS Astrium and ANTRIX (the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation). W2M will be positioned at an orbital slot of 16 deg. East, and is to provide both television and radio broadcasting services for Eutelsat.
Tomorrow’s Ariane 5 mission will mark the 42nd launch of this workhorse commercial launcher, and is the sixth flight performed by Arianespace in 2008.
Sunny skies greeted the Ariane 5 ECA as it departed the Final Assembly Building at 11:00 a.m. for a 2.8-km. transfer to the ELA-3 launch area. Riding atop one of two mobile launch tables available for Ariane 5 mission operations, the vehicle arrived on the launch pad 1 hr. 15 min. later, where it was secured in place.
Tomorrow’s liftoff is scheduled at the 6:51 p.m. opening of a 59-minute launch window, with the two Eutelsat satellites to be deployed during a flight lasting approximately 32 minutes.
HOT BIRD 9 is installed in the upper position of Ariane 5’s dual payload “stack,” and will be released first during the mission sequence. This spacecraft was produced by EADS Astrium and carries 64 Ku-band transponders for the broadcast of digital and new high-definition TV channels, as well as interactive services. After its deployment by Ariane 5, it will be located at Eutelsat’s premium video neighborhood orbital slot of 13 deg. East, with a coverage area extending throughout Europe, as well as to North Africa and the Middle East.
The W2M satellite, which is carried in Ariane 5’s lower passenger slot, was built by a European-Indian joint effort involving EADS Astrium and ANTRIX (the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation). W2M will be positioned at an orbital slot of 16 deg. East, and is to provide both television and radio broadcasting services for Eutelsat.
Tomorrow’s Ariane 5 mission will mark the 42nd launch of this workhorse commercial launcher, and is the sixth flight performed by Arianespace in 2008.
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