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Mission Update

Ariane 5's launch with ASTRA 3B and COMSATBw-2 is set for April 9

April 6, 2010 – Ariane Flight 194

Arianespace’s upcoming dual payload flight has been rescheduled to the evening of Friday, April 9 following additional checks performed on the launch vehicle at Europe’s Spaceport.

The heavy-lift Ariane 5 – together with its ASTRA 3B and COMSATBw-2 passengers – will be transferred Thursday from the Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch complex.

The final countdown will then begin, with liftoff planned on April 9 at the start of a 49-min. launch window that opens at 6:59 p.m. local time in French Guiana.

Arianespace’s forthcoming mission will mark the 50th flight of Ariane 5, and the launch vehicle’s payload fairing carries a special logo to commemorate this milestone.

ASTRA 3B is installed in the upper passenger position of Ariane 5’s dual payload “stack”, and will provide direct-to-home broadcast services and two-way broadband relay across Europe and the Middle East.  The EADS Astrium-produced spacecraft is to be positioned at SES ASTRA’s important 23.5 deg. East orbital position.

Riding as the Ariane 5’s lower passenger is COMSATBw-2, which will deliver key services for the German Bundeswehr (German armed forces).  It is based on the Spacebus 3000B2 satellite bus, and was designed, integrated and tested by Thales Alenia Space on behalf of EADS Astrium – the program’s space segment prime contractor.

• See the official Arianespace launch kit for further information on this mission.