December 18, 2014 – Soyuz Flight VS10
Arianespace has commenced the final countdown for today’s medium-lift Soyuz mission from the Spaceport in French Guiana, which is to orbit four connectivity spacecraft for O3b Networks.
Fueling of Soyuz is now underway on the launch pad, with the vehicle protected by a 53-meter-tall mobile gantry. The gantry will be rolled back to its parked position one hour before liftoff, revealing the completed launcher for the first time.
Today’s Arianespace flight – designated VS10 in the company’s launcher family numbering system – is set for liftoff at 3:37 p.m. local time in French Guiana. The first two O3b Networks spacecraft will be released at just over 2 hours after liftoff, followed by deployment of the remaining two passengers nearly 22 minutes later – completing the mission.
Payload lift performance for this flight is approximately 3,180 kg., including about 2,800 kg. for the four Ka-band satellites, which were produced by Thales Alenia Space for O3b Networks.
