Ariane 5 completes predawn transfer to launch pad

BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: March 21, 2014

Running a day later after brisk ground winds prevented rollout, an Ariane 5 rocket emerged from its final assembly facility at the Guiana Space Center before dawn on Friday for the 1.7-mile move to the launch pad.

The 166-foot-tall rocket was towed by a 540-horsepower tug along dual rail tracks to the ELA-3 launch zone. The launcher will blast off Saturday with the ASTRA 5B and Amazonas 4A communications satellites for SES of Luxembourg and Hispasat of Madrid.

Liftoff of the Ariane 5 is set for 2204 GMT (6:04 p.m. EDT) at the opening of a 58-minute window. It will mark the second launch of the year from the European-run Guiana Space Center, a rocket base on the northern coast of South America.

It will take about a half-hour to deliver the ASTRA 5B and Amazonas 4A payloads into geostationary transfer orbit.

See our Mission Status Center for the latest news on the launch.

Photo credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace - Photo Optique Video du CSG - L. Mira