Arianespace’s year-opening Ariane 5 flight has been authorized for liftoff on February 5 following today’s launch readiness review, which was conducted at the Spaceport in French Guiana.
This milestone confirmed that the heavy-lift launcher and its dual-satellite payload – comprised of Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 (HS-4/SGS-1) and GSAT-31 – are flight-ready, along with the Spaceport’s infrastructure and the network of downrange tracking stations.
With approval granted, Ariane 5 is cleared for Monday’s rollout from the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building to its ELA-3 launch zone. Liftoff will occur the following day during a 61-minute launch window that opens at 6:01 p.m. local time in French Guiana.
Ariane 5 will deliver a total payload lift performance of 10,018 kg. on the mission to geostationary orbit, which is designated Flight VA247. This total includes the two satellite passengers, plus the workhorse vehicle’s dual-payload deployment system and integration hardware.
Launch window for Flight VA247:
|
French Guiana |
UTC |
Athens |
Riyadh |
Bangalore |
|
From 6:01 PM |
From 21:01 |
From 11:01 PM |
From 12:01 AM |
From 2:31 AM |
Source: Arianespace
Date: Feb 4, 2019
