Payload integration for Arianespace’s fifth Ariane 5 mission of 2011 has begun with installation of the Arabsat-5C satellite atop the SYLDA dual-payload dispenser system at the Spaceport in French Guiana.
Arabsat-5C will ride as the upper passenger in Ariane 5’s payload “stack,” being released first during the flight sequence. Positioned on the canister-shaped dispenser, the Arabsat-5C/SYLDA combination is ready to be encapsulated inside the Ariane 5’s payload fairing, and then installed over the lower passenger – SES-2 – which will be mated atop launcher’s core section.