O3b Networks satellites for Arianespace’s next launch to help “bridge the digital divide” are now in French Guiana as the pace accelerates for this Soyuz mission from the Spaceport, which is targeted for late September.
The spacecraft – built by Thales Alenia Space – arrived this morning aboard a chartered Ilyushin IL-76 cargo jetliner that landed at Félix Eboué Airport near the capital city of Cayenne, followed by their transfer via road to the Spaceport’s S5 payload preparation facility.
They will be readied for the upcoming Arianespace Soyuz launch, designated Flight VS06 in the company’s launcher family numbering system, which signifies the sixth liftoff of the medium-lift workhorse from French Guiana.
As preparations begin with O3b Networks’ satellites, the launcher for Flight VS06 is taking shape across the Spaceport in the MIK launcher integration building – located within the Soyuz ELS launch site near the town of Sinnamary.
Flight VS06 will be the second Soyuz mission for O3b Networks, following Arianespace’s June 25 orbiting of the initial four satellites. It provided the first step in O3b Networks’ creation of a space-based constellation to deliver telecommunications and Internet services over Asia, Africa, South America, Australia and the Middle East – combining the global reach of satellite coverage with the speed of a fiber-optic network.
Follow Arianespace’s launch activity at: www.arianespace.com.
