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Mission Update

ProtoStar I and BADR-6 are readied for next week’s Ariane 5 launch

A launch team member makes a final check of Ariane 5’s payload fairing (left).  The fairing is raised into position for installation over ProtoStar I (second photo from left), which is visible in the background atop the SYLDA 5 dispenser system.  In the third photo, the fairing is lowered over ProtoStar I and the SYLDA 5.  This upper component of the payload “stack” is ready to be positioned over the BADR-6 satellite, which was placed on the Ariane 5’s cryogenic core stage this morning (photo at right).

June 25, 2008

The final payload integration process has begun for Arianespace’s fourth Ariane 5 mission of 2008, with the BADR-6 satellite now mounted atop the launcher and ProtoStar I ready for its installation.

This activity is taking place inside the Final Assembly Building at Europe’s Spaceport, as preparations continue for the July 4 evening liftoff from French Guiana. 

Final integration began with the encapsulation of ProtoStar I in the Ariane 5’s payload fairing.  ProtoStar I is the upper passenger in the mission’s dual payload “stack,” and is positioned atop the SYLDA 5 payload dispenser system. 

With the upper payload “stack” component now complete, all is ready for its installation on Ariane 5, where it will be positioned over the BADR-6 spacecraft.  BADR-6 was integrated this morning atop the heavy-lift launcher’s core cryogenic stage.

During the July 4 launch, Ariane 5’s payload fairing will be jettisoned at 3 min., 15 sec. into the mission as the vehicle completes its initial ascent through the denser layers of the Earth’s atmosphere.  ProtoStar I is to be released at some 27 min. into the mission, followed by the separation of SYLDA 5 – which exposes BADR-6 for its deployment at 36 min., 39 sec. into the flight.

This will be Arianespace’s fourth Ariane 5 launch of 2008.  The company is planning a total of seven missions during the year – the busiest for Ariane 5 since the launcher’s commercial introduction in 1999.

• The official Launch Kit has more details on Arianespace's July 4 mission.