During activity in the Spaceport’s S1B clean room facility, ASTRA 2F is raised to the vertical position for removal from its protective shipping container.
…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, ASTRA 2F was removed from its shipping container in the Spaceport’s S1B clean room, where the 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. GSAT-10 was produced by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) using the I-3K satellite bus, and has an estimated liftoff mass of 3,400kg. 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.
Additionally, Ariane 5 components for Arianespace’s sixth heavy-lift mission of 2012 were received by the Spaceport. The MN Toucan is one of two roll-on/roll-off vessels used to transport Arianespace launch vehicles and other mission hardware to the South American launch site. Arriving in French Guiana yesterday were elements for the Ariane 5 to be used later this year on Flight VA210—the 210th mission for Europe’s Ariane launcher series to be operated from the Spaceport.
The MN Toucan moves up the Kourou River as it nears completion of another voyage to support Arianespace’s launch activities at the Spaceport in French Guiana. The ramp that enables roll-on/roll-off loading from inside the protected cargo bay is visible at the ship’s rear.
Photo courtesy of Arianespace.
