Mission Update: Flight 135: Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 mission is set for October 31

Arianespace has set October 31 as the liftoff date for its next Ariane 5 mission (designated Flight 135), which will mark several firsts for the new heavy-lift launch vehicle. The launch campaign for Flight 135 began at Europe’s Spaceport on Monday, September 18 – only days after the liftoff of an Ariane 5 on September 14 for Flight 130.
 
Flight 135 will carry the PanAmSat PAS 1R telecommunications satellite and three piggyback payloads: Amsat P3D, STRV 1C and STRV 1D. This mission will be the first use of the ASAP-5 (Ariane Structure for Auxiliary Payloads) platform, which carries mini- or micro-satellites as secondary payloads. Flight 135 also is to be the initial liftoff performed from the second Ariane 5 mobile launch table, which recently was qualified for service.