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Ariane 5 December 14, 2010

Initial assembly of the 200th Ariane is complete

The completion of initial build-up for the 200th Ariane is shown in these photos. In the two images at left, the Ariane 5’s equipment bay is raised for installation atop the launcher, followed by the EPS upper stage (photos at right).

Basic build-up of the milestone 200th Ariane for launch is now complete at the Spaceport, marking a new milestone in preparations for an Ariane 5 mission that will loft a European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) next February to service the International Space Station.

During activity in the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building, the Ariane 5 ES version of Arianespace’s heavy-lift workhorse was fitted with its equipment bay, followed by installation of the EPS upper stage.

With these steps completed, the Ariane 5 is ready for transfer to the Final Assembly Building, where the ATV – named after German astronomer/mathematician Johannes Kepler – will be installed.  The Final Assembly Building currently is occupied by an Ariane 5 ECA launcher version, which is waiting to receive its payload of the Hispasat 1E and KOREASAT 6 telecommunications satellites for a liftoff scheduled on December 28 from French Guiana.

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Ariane 5 December 9, 2010

The 200th Ariane launcher takes shape at the Spaceport

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