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Rumble in the Jungle

Lancement ce soir (launch tonight). There’s going to be a big rumble in the jungles of French Guiana tonight when an Ariane 5 ECA rocket is scheduled to blast off, launching two geo satcoms into space later today. Roll-out yesterday:
Arianespace today rolled out the Ariane 5 for its second mission of 2008, clearing the way for a final countdown to its liftoff tomorrow evening with the Star One C2 and VINASAT-1 telecommunications satellites.
The heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA emerged from its Final Assembly Building at 10:45 a.m., and arrived in the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone at 12:00 noon.
This transfer utilized a 2.8-km. section of the dual-rail system that links the Spaceport’s major launch infrastructure elements. The Ariane 5 rode atop one of two mobile launch tables developed for the workhorse vehicle.
Star One C2 and VINASAT-1 will be deployed during the Ariane 5’s 31-minute-long flight, with liftoff from French Guiana scheduled at the 7:17 p.m. opening of a 1-hour, 7-min. launch window.

 

Live broadcast in Vietnam  on VTV-1. The launch will be available via webcast beginnging at 21:57 GMT. Launch window opens at 22:17 GMT.

Vinasat-1 will be owned and operated by VNPT and Star One C2 by Embratel’s satellite operator. Interesting. From the jungles of French Guiana, satellites covering the jungles of Southeast Asia and the Amazon.
La Revue d’Aptitude au Lancement (RAL) s’est déroulée le mercredi 16 avril à Kourou et a autorisée les opérations de chronologie pour le Vol Ariane 5 ECA – STAR ONE C2 & VINASAT-1. Pour son 2ème lancement de l’année, Arianespace mettra en orbite deux satellites de télécommunications : STAR ONE C2 pour l’opérateur Brésilien Star One, dans le cadre d’un contrat clés en main avec Thales Alenia Space et VINASAT-1 construit par Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) pour le compte de l’opérateur Vietnamien Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT). Le lancement sera effectué depuis l’Ensemble de Lancement Ariane n° 3 (ELA 3) à Kourou en Guyane française. Le décollage du lanceur Ariane 5 ECA est prévu le plus tôt possible dans la fenêtre de lancement suivante:
GMT : de 22h17 à 23h24, le 18 avril 2008
PARIS : de 00h17 à 01h24, le 19 avril 2008
HANOÏ : de 05h17 à 06h24, le 19 avril 2008
KOUROU : de 19h17 à 20h24, le 18 avril 2008
RIO DE JANEIRO : de 19h17 à 20h24, le 18 avril 2008

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 3:39 am and is filed under Around the Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.