Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 flight (VA207) is scheduled to lift off on Thursday, July 5 with the EchoStar XVII high-throughput relay platform for Hughes Network Systems, and the MSG-3 meteorological spacecraft for EUMETSAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites).
The VA207 flight’s Ariane 5 currently is in the Spaceport’s final assembly building, ready for integration of the EchoStar XVII and MSG-3 satellites.
The time frame for the launch is set from 6:36 p.m. to 7:05 p.m. in Kourou, on Thursday, July 5.
EchoStar XVII is based on Space Systems/Loral’s SS/L 1300 satellite platform, and will deliver broadband services to consumers, businesses and government customers across North America.
It employs a multi-spot beam, bent-pipe Ka-band architecture that provides significant additional capacity for Hughes.