The S5 satellite preparation facility at the Spaceport in French Guiana is busy with activity as two of the three payloads for Flight 162 undergo their pre-launch preparations.
The European Space Agency’s SMART-1 lunar spacecraft has been mated to its interface adapter, while INSAT-3E for the Indian Space Research Organisation underwent a solar panel deployment test.
All is on schedule for a late August liftoff of Flight 162’s Ariane 5 Generic launcher, which will carry SMART-1 and INSAT-3E, along with e-BIRD for Europe’s Eutelsat.
For the latest photos of activity at the Spaceport, see our Mission Update on the Arianespace Web site:
http://www.arianespace.com