High winds on March 20th at ground level have prevented the transfer of the Ariane 5 launcher for Arianespace's Flight VA216 mission with ASTRA 5B and Amazonas 4A, resulting in a 24-hour postponement of this mission from the Spaceport in French Guiana.
The Ariane 5 and its two telecommunications satellite payloads remain in a safe condition inside the Final Assembly Building. Its rollout from the facility to the Spaceport's ELA-3 launch zone is now scheduled for tomorrow, enabling the countdown to begin for a liftoff on Saturday, March 22 at 7:04 p.m. local time during a launch window of 58 minutes. ASTRA 5B is located in the Ariane 5 payload "stack's" upper position and will be deployed first during the 34-minute flight sequence. It was built by Airbus Defence and Space for SES, and will operate from a 31.5 degrees East orbital slot. Installed in the payload stack's lower position, Amazonas 4A is an Orbital Sciences Corporation-produced satellite. It will be operated by HISPASAT from an orbital position of 61 degrees West.
Better news is that hardware for the Ariane 5 that will launch EuropeÂ’s fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) has been delivered to the Spaceport, where it will be readied to orbit the resupply craft on another of ArianespaceÂ’s International Space Station servicing missions.
Among the components delivered to French Guiana this week was the Ariane 5’s cryogenic core stage, which arrived aboard the MN Toucan—one of two sea-going ships utilized by Arianespace to transport launch vehicle elements from Europe to South America. This upcoming mission, which is included in Arianespace’s 2014 launch manifest, will employ an Ariane 5 ES version of its workhorse heavy-lift launcher.
The fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle—designated Georges Lemaître after the Belgian physicist and father of the Big Bang theory—will resupply the International Space Station, perform maneuvers to maintain this manned facility’s nominal orbit and test new rendezvous sensors in space. ATV Georges Lemaître currently is located at the Spaceport, where its pre-flight integration and checkout began late last year.
All ATVs have been orbited by Ariane 5 launchers, beginning with “Jules Verne” in March 2008, which was followed by “Johannes Kepler” in February 2011, “Edoardo Amaldi” in March 2012, and last June’s flight with “Albert Einstein.”
Managed by the European Space Agency (ESA), the ATV program is part of EuropeÂ’s contribution to the International Space StationÂ’s creation and operation.
The Ariane 5 and its two telecommunications satellite payloads remain in a safe condition inside the Final Assembly Building. Its rollout from the facility to the Spaceport's ELA-3 launch zone is now scheduled for tomorrow, enabling the countdown to begin for a liftoff on Saturday, March 22 at 7:04 p.m. local time during a launch window of 58 minutes. ASTRA 5B is located in the Ariane 5 payload "stack's" upper position and will be deployed first during the 34-minute flight sequence. It was built by Airbus Defence and Space for SES, and will operate from a 31.5 degrees East orbital slot. Installed in the payload stack's lower position, Amazonas 4A is an Orbital Sciences Corporation-produced satellite. It will be operated by HISPASAT from an orbital position of 61 degrees West.
Better news is that hardware for the Ariane 5 that will launch EuropeÂ’s fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) has been delivered to the Spaceport, where it will be readied to orbit the resupply craft on another of ArianespaceÂ’s International Space Station servicing missions.
Among the components delivered to French Guiana this week was the Ariane 5’s cryogenic core stage, which arrived aboard the MN Toucan—one of two sea-going ships utilized by Arianespace to transport launch vehicle elements from Europe to South America. This upcoming mission, which is included in Arianespace’s 2014 launch manifest, will employ an Ariane 5 ES version of its workhorse heavy-lift launcher.
The fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle—designated Georges Lemaître after the Belgian physicist and father of the Big Bang theory—will resupply the International Space Station, perform maneuvers to maintain this manned facility’s nominal orbit and test new rendezvous sensors in space. ATV Georges Lemaître currently is located at the Spaceport, where its pre-flight integration and checkout began late last year.
All ATVs have been orbited by Ariane 5 launchers, beginning with “Jules Verne” in March 2008, which was followed by “Johannes Kepler” in February 2011, “Edoardo Amaldi” in March 2012, and last June’s flight with “Albert Einstein.”
Managed by the European Space Agency (ESA), the ATV program is part of EuropeÂ’s contribution to the International Space StationÂ’s creation and operation.