News

Latest Mission Updates

• August 27, 2010
  Arianespace's initial Soyuz mission with Globalstar second-generation satellites is being readied for an October liftoff from Baikonur Cosmodrome
• August 10, 2010
  Another Ariane 5 is delivered to the Spaceport in French Guiana
• August 4, 2010
  The latest Ariane 5 success reinforces Arianespace's launch services leadership
• Archive

Mission Update

The seventh Ariane 5 of 2009 is delivered to Arianespace

November 16, 2009

Arianespace has received the seventh Ariane 5 for launch in 2009, which is scheduled for liftoff on December 9 with the Helios 2B French military reconnaissance satellite.

The Ariane 5 GS version of Arianespace’s workhorse vehicle is now in the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building following its delivery by prime contractor EADS Astrium Space Transportation. 

Helios 2B will be the latest in a family of military observation satellites launched by Ariane, and this payload was built by EADS Astrium.  Arianespace’s customer on the upcoming mission is the CNES French space agency, operating on behalf of France’s DGA defense procurement organization.

Ariane 5 has flown two other missions in 2009 with military payloads.  Germany’s COMSATBw-1 secure communications satellite was launched October 1, and a pair of Spirale auxiliary passengers was orbited on February 12 to serve as demonstrators for a future French defense early warning system.