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Mission Update

Ready for liftoff: Ariane 5 is in the launch zone with its Helios 2B military satellite payload

December 8, 2009

Arianespace has rolled out its seventh Ariane 5 for launch in 2009, preparing the final mission of this year for a daytime liftoff tomorrow at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

The workhorse vehicle was transferred to the ELA-3 launch zone this morning under sunny skies, emerging at 9:45 a.m. local time from the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building – where the Ariane 5 had been fitted with its Helios 2B satellite payload.

This year-ending flight will involve a northward trajectory, with the French-built spacecraft being injected into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit at the conclusion of a 59 min., 23 sec. mission.

The launcher version to be used on this mission is an Ariane 5 GS.  It is powered during initial phases of flight by the Vulcain main engine and two solid rocket boosters, followed by the storable propellant upper stage’s burn for some 16 minutes to achieve orbital injection altitude.

• Arianespace’s official launch kit has more details on this Ariane 5 mission.