Article Posted on : - Aug 04, 2011

Ariane 5 near the launch site. An Arianespace photo

KOUROU (BNS): The Ariane 5 rocket has been cleared for Friday’s dual payload launch mission.

The heavy-lift rocket received the go-ahead to launch two communications satellites after a launch readiness review by Arianespace on Wednesday.

The launch vehicle is set to roll out from the Final Assembly Building to the Kourou spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone on Thursday.

It will blast off from the spaceport in French Guiana at 06:53 pm local time (2153 GMT) to place in orbit the ASTRA 1N and BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R satellites.

The satellites will be placed into a geostationary transfer orbit.

The European workhorse vehicle will to carry a total estimated payload of 9,095 kg for the upcoming flight which includes a mass of 8,240 kg for its ASTRA 1N and BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R satellite passengers.