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Mission Update

The fourth Ariane 5 of 2008 is delivered to Arianespace for a July 4 liftoff

June 23, 2008

The Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s July 4 heavy-lift mission nears the Final Assembly Building, where it will be fitted with the ProtoStar I and BADR-6 satellite payloads.

The second of two satellites for Ariane 5's next flight has arrived at Europe's Spaceport as Arianespace continues its sustained mission pace in 2008.

After touching down in French Guiana earlier this week aboard a cargo jetliner, the AMC-21 satellite was moved to the Spaceport's S5 spacecraft preparation facility. It joins Superbird-7, which also is undergoing final checkout for a planned Ariane 5 ECA liftoff during the first half of August.

This will be the fifth Ariane 5 mission of 2008, and it follows the previous launches in March, April, June and July – which orbited a total of six telecommunications satellites, along with the Automated Transfer Vehicle for servicing of the International Space
Station.

AMC-21 will be operated by U.S.-based satellite services provider SES AMERICOM, and is to handle television and enterprise distribution services. The spacecraft was supplied by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space, and utilizes a STAR-2 spacecraft manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation.

Arianespace is targeting a total of seven Ariane 5 missions in 2008 – making it the busiest year for this workhorse launcher since its commercial introduction in 1999.