Arianespace is carrying out parallel launch campaigns at Europe's Spaceport with the heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA, demonstrating the company's flexibility to launch customer payloads when they are ready.
As one Ariane 5 ECA is awaiting the integration of its dual-satellite payload for an August 11 liftoff, a second vehicle is now taking shape in preparation for the subsequent launch – which also will carry a multiple spacecraft passengers.
The Ariane 5 ECA for Arianespace's August 11 mission is inside the Spaceport's Final Assembly Building, where it will soon will be fitted with JCSAT-10 civilian telecommunications satellite for Japan's JSAT Corporation and the French Syracuse 3B military relay platform.
Approximately 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) away, a newly-arrived Ariane 5 ECA has begun its build-up in the Launcher Integration Building, where the cryogenic core stage has erected and will be mated with the two solid boosters.
