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ARIANESPACE FLIGHT 156

December 14: The go-ahead is given for launch

Arianespace's second flight for New Skies Satellites was given the 
green light for liftoff today following the launch readiness review 
held at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

The review cleared Flight 156's Ariane 4 for the December 17 liftoff, 
and confirmed the readiness of its NSS-6 telecom satellite payload. 
Launch infrastructure at the Spaceport was declared ready for the 
mission, as were the downrange tracking stations.

This flight will be the second-to-last mission for the Ariane 4 
launcher family. It is the 115th launch of an Ariane 4, and the 39th 
in the 44L version - which is equipped with four large liquid strap-on 
boosters for augmented thrust at liftoff and initial ascent.

The NSS-6 satellite was built by Lockheed Martin and carries a payload 
with high-performance Ku-band beams. To be positioned at 95 deg. East, 
the platform will reach markets from the Mediterranean Sea to Japan - 
covering Asia, Australia, Southern Africa and the Middle East.

Arianespace's previous launch for The Netherlands-based New Skies 
Satellites was last April, when Flight 150 placed the NSS-7 satellite 
into a highly accurate geostationary transfer orbit.

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