Photos: A drive around the Ariane 5 launch pad

Take a trip around the perimeter of the Ariane 5 rocket’s launch zone in Kourou, French Guiana, where two Intelsat communications satellites are poised for liftoff Wednesday at 2155 GMT (5:55 p.m. EDT; 6:55 p.m. local time).

The ELA-3 launch zone at the French-run Guiana Space Center is nestled in a wilderness near the northern Atlantic coastline of South America. Guarded by soldiers of the French Foreign Legion, the launch facility receives Ariane 5 boosters after the roll out from the nearby final assembly building on the day before a liftoff.

These images taken Tuesday evening from the perimeter road around the ELA-3 launch zone show the rocket poised for flight.

Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now

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