Arianespace assembling Flight VA211 for Skynet 5D, Mexsat 3 satellites

Arianespace has begun preparations to launch its seventh Ariane 5 mission, Ariane Flight VA211, from the French Guiana Spaceport this 2012. The launch is scheduled for the middle of December and will deliver the Skynet 5D military communications platform and the Mexsat 3 Ku-band satellite into orbit.

Skynet 5D will occupy the upper payload slot of the Ariane 5 rocket. It will be the first satellite to be deployed. Mexsat 3 will be installed in the lower payload slot.

Built by the Astrium division of EADS, Skynet 5D was based off the high-power E3000 variant of the company’s Eurostar satellite series. The 2.5 ton satellite is equipped with its X-band transponders that can provide secure voice and data communications to Skynet users such as the British armed forces, the militaries of other European countries, NATO member-nations, and Australia, who all perform military operations in peacekeeping and battlefield conditions.

Its fellow passenger on Flight VA211, the Mexsat 3 satellite, is of American manufacture. The rugged Orbital Sciences Corporation-built platform weighs nearly 3,050 kg at liftoff and was designed for more than 15 years of operations in orbit. Its complement of extended C-band and Ku-band transponders will deliver next-generation satellite communications services throughout Mexico and the maritime VSAT users in its surrounding waters.

The Flight VA211 vehicle is undergoing assembly at the Spaceport’s Launcher Assembly Building. Its sister Ariane 5 rocket. Designated Flight VA210 and scheduled for launch this November, the second Arianespace rocket is nearing completion at the Final Assembly Building. Flight VA210 will also carry a two-satellite payload consisting of the EUTELSAT 21B and Star One C3 platforms.