Status Report

Ariane Flight 131 moves into the spotlight

By SpaceRef Editor
July 18, 2000
Filed under

Flight 131 has vaulted into position as Arianespace’s next launch, following Flight 130’s delay due to a hardware alert concerning that mission’s Ariane 5.
 
Flight 131 has vaulted into position as Arianespace’s next launch, following Flight 130’s delay due to a hardware alert concerning that mission’s Ariane 5.
 
This activity is taking place inside the Ariane 4 assembly hall at the Spaceport’s ELA-2 launch facility.
 
Jean-Marc Artaud, Arianespace’s Flight 131 mission manager, said launch of the Ariane 4 is now targeted for August 11 – a week earlier than the original August 17 date.
 
The change in mission order and date was decided after Arianespace postponed the launch of Flight 130 until an upper stage anomaly detected during endurance testing on Ariane 5 components in Europe is resolved (See our Flight 130 Mission Update story in the News and Information section for more details).
 
"The Flight 131 launcher will be ready for the new date, demonstrating Arianespace’s ability to react quickly and positively to changes in mission scheduling," Artaud said.
 
Work will continue on the Ariane 4 launch vehicle tomorrow, continuing the mission preparations through the French July 14 Bastille Day holiday.
 
Flight 131 will use the Ariane 44LP version of Ariane 4, which is equipped with two liquid and two solid boosters. The two liquid boosters will be mated to the launcher’s first stage next week, followed by the installation of the third stage and vehicle equipment bay atop the Ariane 4.
 
The Egyptian Nilesat 102 satellite payload for Flight 131 was flown into French Guiana’s Cayenne airport on July 11 and was immediately transported by road to the Spaceport. Nilesat was then transferred into the S1B satellite preparation building and removed from its shipping container on July 12 to begin pre-launch preparations.
 
Flight 131’s second payload, Brazil’s Brasilsat B4, will arrive July 19, and this satellite will undergo its pre-launch preparation phase in the Spaceport’s S3B building.

SpaceRef staff editor.