Optus 10 is delivered to French Guiana for Arianespace’s Ariane 5 launch in September

[anilsk01]

Optus 10 is unloaded from the An-124 cargo jetliner after its arrival at Félix Eboué Airport near French Guiana’s capital city of Cayenne.

Ariane Flight VA218

The return of Optus 10 to French Guiana has set the stage for a new phase of payload preparations at the Spaceport with Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 mission, which is scheduled for a September liftoff carrying this multi-mission satellite and its MEASAT-3b co-passenger.

Optus 10’s delivery occurred yesterday as the Space Systems/Loral-built spacecraft landed at Félix Eboué Airport near the capital city of Cayenne, where it was unloaded from a chartered Antonov An-124 cargo jetliner for transfer by road to the Spaceport.

To be operated by Australia’s Optus telecommunications service provider, Optus 10 is outfitted for direct TV broadcast, internet connectivity, telephone and data transmission services across Australia and New Zealand.

Joining it on Arianespace’s Ariane 5 mission in September is the Airbus Defence and Space-built MEASAT-3b relay platform, designed to expand Malaysian-based MEASAT’s direct-to-home broadcasting as well as VSAT services to small terminals across Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Australia.

MEASAT-3b was put in storage at the Spaceport awaiting the availability of Optus 10 for the upcoming dual-passenger launch – designated Flight VA218 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system. The mission’s Ariane 5 was moved earlier this month into the Final Assembly Building at the Spaceport, where it is being readied for the integration of Optus 10 and MEASAT-3b.

 

[Thakur]

Re: Optus 10 is delivered to French Guiana for Arianespace’s Ariane 5 launch in

The 75th planned flight of an Arianespace Ariane 5 launch vehicle should come this
Thursday, Sept. 11, from Europe’s
Spaceport at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.

The launch is currently scheduled for liftoff between 5:21 p.m. and 6:23 p.m. EDT (2121 and 2323 GMT), and should deliver the
MEASAT-3b and OPTUS 10 satellites into orbit.

Arianespace has designated this flight “VA218,” and this will be the fourth Ariane 5 launch from the Space Port located in Kourou, French Guiana this year. This
includes the ABS-2 and Athena-Fidus launch on Feb. 6, ASTRA 5B and Amazonas 4A launch on March 22, and Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) GeorgesLemaître launch on July 29. This upcoming
Arianespace mission will be propelled atop the heavy-lift Ariane 5 launch vehicle, and
comes after the launch of ATV Georges Lemaître back in July, which marked the 60th successful mission in a row for the
Ariane 5 rocket.

http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/arianespace/arianespace-readies-75th-ariane-5-rocket-launch-sept-11/