Arianespace has announced that the fifth Ariane 5 mission of 2010 was given the go-ahead on Wednesday for its November 26 liftoff with a dual payload of the Intelsat 17 and Hylas 1 satellites.
This authorisation followed the completion of the launch readiness review, which validates to “go” status of the heavy-lift Ariane 5, its two spacecraft passengers, the launch infrastructure at the Spaceport in French Guiana, and the network of down-range tracking stations.
With the successful review, Ariane 5 is cleared for Thursday’s rollout from the Spaceport’s final assembly building to the ELA-3 launch zone, where it will be readied for liftoff on Friday during an early launch window that opens at 3:39 p.m. local time in French Guiana and continues to 6:54 p.m. Originally, Arianespace had announced a launch window on November 25.
For this 198th mission of an Ariane family launcher – and the 54th flight for Ariane 5 – the launch vehicle will deliver an estimated 8,870 kg. total payload, of which approximately 8,070 kg. is the combined mass of Intelsat 17 and Hylas 1.
During the 49 min. flight, Intelsat 17 will be released first, followed by Hylas 1.
The final Ariane 5 launch for this year will be for a dual payload of the Hispasat 1E and Koreasat 6 satellites.
