Arianespace builds for dual launch
May 24, 2017
The spaceport at French Guiana is extremely busy catching up on the ‘lost’ 40 days of the May strike throughout the region with preparation for an important dual payload of satellites due for launch next month.
An Ariane 5, dubbed Flight VA238, is taking shape for a scheduled June 28th lift-off with a dual-satellite payload: the Hellas-Sat 3/Inmarsat S multi-mission relay satellite for Inmarsat and Arabsat-owned Hellas-Sat; and the Indian Space Research Organisation’s GSAT-17 communications spacecraft.
Arianespace is targeting a total of 12 missions in 2017 utilizing its family of the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and light-lift Vega. So far in 2017, the launch services company, despite the strikes, has performed five flights from the Spaceport: two each with Ariane 5 and Soyuz, along with one Vega mission.
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