The Spaceport in French Guiana is alive with activity as Arianespace continues its sustained mission pace to perform six flights of the workhorse Ariane 5 in 2007. For Ariane 5's November 9 launch, the Skynet 5B and Star One C1 satellites are being integrated into their dual-payload stack.
On this mission, the United Kingdom's Skynet 5B military telecommunications spacecraft will be in the upper passenger position, with Brazil's Star One C1 satellite riding as the lower payload. The heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA is inside the Spaceport's final assembly building as this activity is completed under Arianespace responsibility.
In parallel, another Ariane 5 is beginning to take shape in the Spaceport's integration building as industrial prime contractor Astrium Space Transportation starts the buildup of this no. 6 vehicle for 2007. The Ariane 5 GS will orbit the Rascom 1 and Horizons-2 telecommunications satellites.
