The build-up of another Ariane 5 began this week in French Guiana, initiating preparations for Arianespace’s fifth heavy-lift flight of 2015 from the Spaceport.
Using the well-established procedures employed since Ariane 5’s introduction in the mid-1990s, the vehicle’s core cryogenic stage was positioned over a mobile launch table inside the Launcher Integration Building. It was followed by rollout of the two solid propellant boosters for mating with the erected core cryogenic stage.
This activity is managed by prime contractor Airbus Safran Launchers, which oversees the build-up process prior to delivering Ariane 5s to Arianespace for payload installation in the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building.
The Ariane 5 will be used in a September mission, carrying a dual-satellite payload of NBN Co 1A for Australia’s National Broadband Network and ARSAT-2 for Argentinean operator ARSAT. Designated Flight VA226 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system, it will be the 226th Ariane mission since this series of vehicles entered operation in 1979.
