Another Ariane 5 ECA is now in the Final Assembly Building at Europe's Spaceport as Arianespace prepares for its third mission in 2006 with the versatile heavy-lift launcher.
The vehicle was transferred Thursday from the Launcher Integration building – where its basic assembly was performed – to the Final Assembly Building for the installation of its dual satellite payload.
The upcoming mission will carry the 4,000-kilogram (8,800-pound) JCSAT-10 communications satellite for Japan's JSAT Corp., along with the French Syracuse 3B military relay platform, which will have a mass at liftoff of approximately 3,700 kilograms (8,140 pounds).
Liftoff of the Ariane 5 ECA currently is planned for Aug. 11. The mission follows the Ariane 5 ECA launch on May 27, which carried the Satmex 6 and Thaicom 5 satellites with a record payload weight of 8,200 kilograms (18,040 pounds) to geostationary transfer orbit.
That launch was preceded by the March 11 flight of an Ariane 5 ECA to loft the HOT BIRDTM 7A and SPAINSAT satellites.
