PAYLOAD INTEGRATION IS UNDERWAY FOR ARIANESPACE’S THIRD ARIANE 5 MISSION

Payload integration is underway for Arianespace’s third Ariane 5 mission 2019, which will orbit telecommunications satellites at the service of long-time customers: Intelsat 39, for global operator Intelsat; and EDRS-C, based on a public-private partnership between Airbus and the European Space Agency – ESA.

Recent activity at the Spaceport included initial steps in creating the dual-payload configuration, with Intelsat 39 riding in the upper position. This involved installing the relay platform atop Ariane 5’s SYLDA dispenser system inside the launcher’s Final Assembly Building.

Intelsat 39, which was produced by Maxar Technologies, was then encapsulated by Ariane 5’s protective fairing, completing the payload configuration’s upper portion and readying it for positioning over EDRS-C once this spacecraft is installed atop the launcher.

Following Ariane 5’s liftoff during the afternoon hours of August 6, Intelsat 39 will be released first into geostationary transfer orbit, to be followed by the separation of SYLDA, enabling EDRS-C’s subsequent deployment to geostationary transfer orbit.