Arianespace’s sixth heavy-lift Ariane 5 mission of 2009 has been cleared for its October 29 liftoff from the Spaceport in French Guiana. The go-ahead was given following today’s launch readiness review – which validated the status of Ariane 5, the NSS-12 and THOR 6 satellite payloads, the launch infrastructure at Europe’s Spaceport and the network of downrange tracking stations.