Preparations for the next two Ariane 5 flights are underway at the Spaceport, once again demonstrating Arianespace's flexibility in meeting customer timing for the orbiting of their telecommunications satellites as the company maintains its mission pace with the industry's reference heavy-lift workhorse launcher.

The Ariane 5 for next Friday's (July 1) liftoff is now complete following installation of the upper composite atop the launch vehicle. This component includes the ASTRA 1N spacecraft and the SYLDA dispenser system on which it is installed - both of which are encapsulated in Ariane 5's protective payload fairing.

Ariane 5 was "topped off" when the upper composite was positioned over the BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R payload, which earlier was installed on the launcher's core stage. This activity occurred in the Spaceport's Final Assembly Building.

The July 1 mission with BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R and ASTRA 1N will be Arianespace's fourth of six Ariane 5 flights in 2011, with the payload lift performance for this upcoming flight set at approximately 9,095 kg. - which includes 8,240 kg. for the two satellites.

ASTRA 1N will be orbited by Arianespace for the Luxembourg-based operator SES ASTRA, while BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R is to be lofted for the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems as part of a turnkey contract for the Japanese operators B-SAT Corporation and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation.

As this Ariane 5 is readied for its rollout from the Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch zone, another heavy-lift vehicle is beginning to take shape in the nearby Launcher Assembly Building. It will be used for another dual payload of telecommunications satellites.

In parallel activity, Arianespace's next Soyuz launch with Globalstar's second-generation satellites is on schedule for a July 11 liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, as all six spacecraft have been fueled and integrated on their dispenser system.

This will be the second such mission conducted for Arianespace by its Starsem affiliate, and is to be followed by two more flights before year-end.

The second-generation Globalstar satellites were built by Thales Alenia Space and are trapezoidal in shape to allow their installation on the Soyuz' conical-shaped dispenser.

Globalstar has contracted with Arianespace to conduct a series of four Soyuz launches, each of which will carry six of the second-generation satellites for a total of 24 spacecraft.

Once this new constellation is fully deployed, it will support Globalstar's mobile satellite voice and data services for commercial and government customers in more than 120 countries.

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Related Links Arianespace Launch Pad at Space-Travel.com