Photos: Ariane 5 counting down to liftoff

Launch crews rolled out a nearly 180-foot-tall Ariane 5 rocket to its launch pad Monday in a final major step before liftoff with the Arabsat 6B and GSAT 15 communications satellites to broadcast television, broadband and other telecom services across Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and India.

Pulled by a heavy-duty Titan tug along dual rail tracks, the Ariane 5 emerged from its final assembly building at the Guiana Space Center on Monday morning and reached the ELA-3 launch zone by midday, where technicians configured the rocket and its mobile platform for the countdown Tuesday.

Liftoff is set for 2134 GMT (4:34 p.m. EST) Tuesday at the opening of a 43-minute launch window.

Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon
Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon

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