The Ariane 5 is readied for its July 12 flight 6 June 2001

The launcher for Arianespace’s second Ariane 5 flight of 2001 is taking
shape in the ELA-3 complex at the Spaceport.

In what has become a familiar procedure for launch crews, mission activity
for Ariane 5 began on May 29 when the shipping container with the heavy-lift
vehicle’s main cryogenic stage was opened inside the launcher integration
building.

On May 30, the stage was raised into position over the mobile launch table
and held in place by two supporting arms.

During the following two working days, both solid booster stages were rolled
into the integration building and moved onto the launch table – taking their
places to the left and right sides of the main cryogenic stage.

The main croygenic stage was then lowered into position on June 1, allowing
the mating procedure to begin with the solid boosters.

Flight 142 is scheduled for a July 12 liftoff, carrying the European Space
Agency’s Artemis experimental communications satellite and the BSAT-2b
direct broadcasting platform for the Broadcasting Satellite System Corp. of
Japan.

Artemis arrived in Kourou in late March after a two-week sea voyage from
Europe. It is the most advanced telecommunications spacecraft developed by
ESA, and will contribute to the development of Europe’s new satellite
navigation system, as well as demonstrate new mobile communications services
and advanced inter-satellite data relay links. Prime contractor for the
Artemis spacecraft is Italy’s Alenia Aerospazio.

The other payload for Flight 142 is BSAT-2b – the second of two
direct-to-home digital television broadcasting platforms built by Orbital
Sciences Corporation for Japan’s B-SAT. BSAT-2b is based on Orbital’s “STAR”
family of smaller GEO satellite platforms. Arianespace successfully launched
the BSAT-2a on its last Ariane 5 mission, Flight 140, which lifted off from
the Spaceport on March 8.