The Astra 2F satellite to be orbited on Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 mission is now undergoing pre-flight checkout, joining its GSAT-10 co-passenger at the Spaceport launch site in French Guiana.
Built by the Astrium division of EADS for Luxembourg-based SES, AAstra 2F was removed from its shipping container in the Spaceport’s S1B clean room, wherethe relay platform arrived after being delivered to French Guiana yesterday by a chartered cargo jetliner.
Astra 2F is a six metric ton-class platform that carries Ku- and Ka-band payloads for the relay of high performance DTH and next-generation broadband services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
It will be lofted by Arianespace’s Ariane 5 mission on September 21 along with GSAT-10, which continues its own preparation activity at the Spaceport.
This upcoming mission will be the 65th flight of an Ariane 5 from French Guiana, and the fifth so far in 2012 for the workhorse Arianespace heavy-lift launcher.