Arianespace Flight 159 – The final Ariane 4 is cleared for launch!

The final mission of an Ariane 4 has been given the green light for liftoff
following the launch readiness review, which was performed today at the
Spaceport in French Guiana.

Flight 159’s review validated the readiness of the Ariane 4, its Intelsat
907 telecommunications satellite payload, the Guiana Space Center’s
infrastructure and the downrange tracking stations.

With today’s go-ahead, the liftoff of Flight 159 is confirmed for February
12 during a one-hour launch window that opens at 4:00 a.m. local Kourou time
(07h00 GMT, 8:00 a.m. Paris time and 2:00 a.m. on the U.S. East Coast.

This final Ariane 4 mission will mark the 116th launch for the Ariane 4
family, which entered service in 1988.

Flight 159 uses an Ariane 44L version of the family, which is equipped with
four large strap-on liquid boosters for additional thrust during liftoff and
initial ascent. The upcoming mission will be the 40th flight of an Ariane
44L.

Intelsat 907 will have a mass of approximately 4,680 kg. at liftoff, and is
designed for an operational lifetime of 13 years. The spacecraft was built
by Space Systems/Loral and carries 76 C-band and 22 Ku-band transponders (in
36 MHz equivalent units).

Intelsat 907 will be the 23rd Intelsat spacecraft launched by Ariane.

During its operational lifetime, the workhorse Ariane 4 launcher family
demonstrated Arianespace’s capability to match up and launch multiple
spacecraft on a single mission – a procedure that will continue with even
larger satellites on the successor Ariane 5.