Star One C4 and MSG-4 launch atop Ariane 5 ECA July 15th (pics heavy)

[Hcube]

This is flight VA224, Ariane 5's sixth launch this year.

Watch it Here !

Launch window is 37 minutes long :

-18h42-19h19 Kourou time, July 15th

-21h42-23h19 GMT, July 15th

-23h42-00h19 Paris time, July 15th-16th

Star One C4 is riding the rocket on top, and MSG-4 is under the SYLDAb bell. Star One C4 will be released first, 28 minutes after liftoff. MSG-4 will be released later, at around 40 minutes into the flight.

-MSG-4 is a 2ton meteo satellite wich is part of the ESA's EUMETSAT satellite constellation. it is in the white room in this picture. It is normally surrounded by static solar cells (they are covered here.)

-Star One C4 is a 5.6ton telephone, television and radio satellite part of the Embratel Star One satellite constellation. Will cover Brasil and relay data in most Latin america and USA. It will be launched on a 70° inclination GEO. (no actual pics found... ?)

MSG-4 arriving at Kourou :

Arrival of Ariane 5's main core at Kourou :

Will update other pics later

Edited July 16, 2015 by Hcube

[Scotius]

Thanks for the heads up Lets hope this launch will go without a hitch. We've seen enough RUDs for this year

[Hcube]

Pictures : (because we all like pictures) (if anyone is kind enough to teach me how tu use spoilers, i will "spoiler" the huge pictures.

Ariane 5's second stage before assembly :

And after assembly : (note that the EAP are already assembled !)

Transfer to the payload assembly hangar :

MSG-4 :

(huge pictures !)

it's a spinning satellite, by the way, for extra stability

Star One C4 : (hey i found a real picture!)

UPDATE :

Both payloads enclosed in the fairing with the SYLDA (system for double launch) :

Star One C4 under the SYLDA bell :

And MSG-4 on top :

And mating the fairing to the booster :

Tell me if you want me to update more pictures of this launch preparation (and actual launch after it will have happened) ! All these pics are from the CNES, obviously

Edited July 13, 2015 by Hcube

[Scotius]

Nice pics Both sats are quite large compared to people standing next to them.

[MinimumSky5]

I always thought of the Ariane being much wider than that picture of the first stage, at least twice as wide. probably KSP, with its huge rockets!

[LordFerret]

Sorry but, at first glance of that Ariane 5's second stage picture, the engine ... the first thought which ran through my head was "More struts."

Great shots, good info ... thanks for the heads-up!

[Hcube]

I always thought of the Ariane being much wider than that picture of the first stage, at least twice as wide. probably KSP, with its huge rockets!

It's probably just an optical illusion... in fact there is nothing for scale on that picture, so it's hard to tell. Ariane 5's EPC (the main core) is actually 5,458m in diameter and 30,525m tall (not counting second stage and fairing). It's very big in reality, much bigger than any KSP rocket !

[Motokid600]

Sorry but, at first glance of that Ariane 5's second stage picture, the engine ... the first thought which ran through my head was "More struts."

Great shots, good info ... thanks for the heads-up!

I was confused about that too. Is that THE second stage? Or is that just some assembly housing that comes off when the stage is mated to the rocket? Or is that a large interstage skirt that drops off?

[Hcube]

I was confused about that too. Is that THE second stage? Or is that just some assembly housing that comes off when the stage is mated to the rocket? Or is that a large interstage skirt that drops off?

This is pretty much the whole second stage with an interstage fairing skirt (but i'm not 100% sure on this you may want to check it up). the interstage is big because the second stage engine, the HM-7B, is very long.

IIRC the interstage stays attached to the first stage during staging and falls off with it.

Yes the ESC (second stage) is very small compared to the EPC (first stage) because Ariane 5 is basically a oversized first stage with a small second stage.

Just so that you get the idea : MECO and staging happen when the booster is already flying at around 6900-7000 m.s^-1 and is at about 170km above the surface !!

why more struts ? there are 6 of them here for such a small engine !

[sgt_flyer]

The 'outside' of the upper stage is the part which is more white than the rest.

The section above it is fitted around the 'rounded' part of the stage's LH2 tank) - it contains the various avionics / guidance units of the rocket, and serve as a support for the payload adapter.

The section below it is the interstage, which will fall with the core stage on separation.

Also not shown on those pictures, but the upper stage will be fitted with ullage packs (which are also dropped once they did their job - those allow the fuel to settle in the tanks prior to the upper stage ignition, and push the upper stage away from the lower stage after separation)

The upper stage contains the RCS systems for the rocket (Roll control after booster separation (the SRBs are gimballed and can provide roll control during early ascent, but after booster separation, the single engine can only provide yaw & pitch control, so roll is done with RCS) once the core stage is dropped, full attitude control can be done with RCS (yaw, pitch & roll)

[MinimumSky5]

It's probably just an optical illusion... in fact there is nothing for scale on that picture, so it's hard to tell. Ariane 5's EPC (the main core) is actually 5,458m in diameter and 30,525m tall (not counting second stage and fairing). It's very big in reality, much bigger than any KSP rocket !

I assume you didn't mean the commas there! I think its the people next to it, kerbals are 1?2 the hight of a human so the rocket looked half the size it actually is in reality (i.e. it looked like a 2.5m kerbal rocket, big, but not huge).

[Hcube]

I assume you didn't mean the commas there! I think its the people next to it, kerbals are 1?2 the hight of a human so the rocket looked half the size it actually is in reality (i.e. it looked like a 2.5m kerbal rocket, big, but not huge).

I meant them ! In France we use commas for decimals...

wait there's no one next to it in the pictures...

[MinimumSky5]

I meant them ! In France we use commas for decimals...

wait there's no one next to it in the pictures...

In the picture of the main core arriving at kourou, you can see several workers next to the booster, and also, I realised the second reason is that I've seen the VAB at Kennedy in person, and was imagining the VAB at kourou to be the same size, which I now know to be a gross overestimate!

[Nibb31]

There is a 1:1 mockup of Ariane V at a theme park near where I live. You can get up close and personal with it, and it really isn't that big.

The Vulcain engine bell is about as tall as a person.

Edited July 13, 2015 by Nibb31

[Hcube]

There is a 1:1 mockup of Ariane V at a theme park near where I live. You can get up close and personal with it, and it really isn't that big.

http://www.enjoyspace.com/uploads/news/fevrier2011/atv/ariane-cite.jpg

Oh hey i guess we live in the same place then what a coincidence let's keep it in english though.

I went to the "cité de l'espace" (this space themed park) as a kid and the rocket always felt huge to me. Maybe it wouldn't anymore if i came back there now...

EDIT : updated the OP and added a bunch of pictures.

Roll of the booster from the BAF (bâtiment d'assemblage final=final assembly building) to the launchpad scheduled today (July 13rd)

Funny to see that while the payloads were adapted on the VA224 booster, the core and EAP of the VA225 arrived and were installed in the BIL (it's like the VAB) ! there is a lot going on at Kourou

Edited July 13, 2015 by Hcube

[Hcube]

UPDATE :

Ariane 5 was succesfully transferred from the BAF (it's like the VAB) to the launchpad ELA-3 on July 13th (the pictures only arrive now)

In the BAF, preparing to roll out, view of the crawlerway :

Roll-out

On the pad :

The sky looks very overcast... i hope the weather is still "GO" for tonight

Edited July 15, 2015 by Hcube

[Bioman222]

Where would I find a live stream of the launch?

[Hcube]

Where would I find a live stream of the launch?

Right there !

[Scotius]

Aw, crud. Too late for me Hopefully someone will post a clip on YT before i'll get back from work.

[Hcube]

Aw, crud. Too late for me Hopefully someone will post a clip on YT before i'll get back from work.

Yeah it's pretty late for me too...

You will always be able to watch it later on the Arianespace website anyway

Livestream starting in 10 minutes

Edited July 15, 2015 by Hcube

[Crampman]

9 minutes until launch !

[Dkmdlb]

Is it though?

[Hcube]

Stream has started ! that presentator tho... french accent FTW !

- - - Updated - - -

9 minutes until launch !

Nah it's about 11 minutes... anyway the window is like 20 minutes long !

[Crampman]

Yeah, it was 9 minutes until stream...

Oh, more terrible french accent... xD

EDIT

Other accents are quite routh too, so..

Edited July 15, 2015 by Crampman

[Hcube]

Yeah, it was 9 minutes until stream...

Oh, more terrible french accent... xD

Yeah this one is even worse ! hey i thought americans liked french accent

hmmm a lot of stuff about the customer/arianespace relation, but it's T-7 minutes here, how about some countdown coverage ?