Today, on Launch-1 day, the Ariane 5 rocket with the Intelsat New Dawn and Yahsat 1A satellites left the confines of the Final Assembly Building to travel to the Launch Zone. Once there, the technicians will finalize the launch table and configure it for tomorrow's launch. The photo collage gives you some perspective of today's activities. The French Military was there to protect the rocket, Jean-Luc Froeliger observed the roll-out from a distance, while others celebrated with champagne to mark this special day.
It is truly peaceful and calming to view the rocket as it quietly moves about 2 to 3 kilometers per hour knowing that tomorrow's event will be a fiery lift-off, culminating with the satellites traveling over 32,000 miles per hour.
The Launch Readiness Review was successfully held yesterday and Arianespace authorized the launch vehicle for roll-out to the launch pad. The Ariane 5 launch vehicle, along with the Intelsat New Dawn and Yahsat satellite, have been sitting safely in the Final Assembly Building for the last three weeks as Arianespace and their subcontractors completed the investigation into the cause of the terminated countdown three weeks ago.
On Monday, engineers from Orbital Sciences Corporation powered up the satellite and configured it for pre-launch. The satellite batteries are now fully charged and all sub-systems have been fully checked out. Everything is looking great for the launch. The window opens tomorrow at 5:37 pm EDT, Washington DC time.
Contributor: Brian Sing, Satellite Mission Director, Intelsat New Dawn
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