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ARIANESPACE FLIGHT 159

February 8: The final Ariane 4 is cleared for launch!

The final mission of an Ariane 4 has been given the green light for 
liftoff following the launch readiness review, which was performed 
today at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Flight 159's review validated the readiness of the Ariane 4, its 
Intelsat 907 telecommunications satellite payload, the Guiana Space 
Center's infrastructure and the downrange tracking stations.

With today's go-ahead, the liftoff of Flight 159 is confirmed for 
February 12 during a one-hour launch window that opens at 4:00 a.m. 
local Kourou time (07h00 GMT, 8:00 a.m. Paris time and 2:00 a.m. on 
the U.S. East Coast.

This final Ariane 4 mission will mark the 116th launch for the Ariane 
4 family, which entered service in 1988.

Flight 159 uses an Ariane 44L version of the family, which is equipped 
with four large strap-on liquid boosters for additional thrust during 
liftoff and initial ascent. The upcoming mission will be the 40th 
flight of an Ariane 44L.

Intelsat 907 will have a mass of approximately 4,680 kg. at liftoff, 
and is designed for an operational lifetime of 13 years. The 
spacecraft was built by Space Systems/Loral and carries 76 C-band and 
22 Ku-band transponders (in 36 MHz equivalent units).

Intelsat 907 will be the 23rd Intelsat spacecraft launched by Ariane.

During its operational lifetime, the workhorse Ariane 4 launcher 
family demonstrated Arianespace's capability to match up and launch 
multiple spacecraft on a single mission - a procedure that will 
continue with even larger satellites on the successor Ariane 5.

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