The upper stage for Ariane 5's next mission was formally delivered to Arianespace today and was prepared for its shipment by air from Europe to French Guiana.
European space hardware manufacturer Astrium handed the stage over at Germany's Bremen Airport, where it was loaded aboard a Ukrainian-built Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft for the flight to Cayenne (photo below, left).
With today's upper stage delivery, the next Ariane 5 mission remains on schedule for a launch date as of February 28. This will be the new-generation launcher's first mission of 2002, and its seventh commercial flight under Arianespace operation.
"This upcoming Ariane 5 mission will demonstrate that Europe and Arianespace have the workhorse heavy-lift launcher to satisfy customers around the world, and that we are more than ever ready to meet the challenges of the future," Arianespace Chief Operating Officer Jean-Yves LeGall said in accepting the upper stage in at Bremen.
After its arrival in Cayenne, the upper stage will be unloaded from the An-124 and transported to the Guiana Space Center, where it will be mated to the nearly-complete Ariane 5. The mission's Envisat satellite payload will then be installed atop the vehicle in its protective payload fairing, enabling the launcher to be rolled out to the launch zone on February 27.
The EPS upper stage (shown in photo being loaded into its shipping container at upper right) was cleared for launch after completing 10 acceptance tests in Lampoldshausen, Germany, during which the new ignition sequence was validated in a wide range of conditions.
