科技英语新闻:Arianespace schedules its 3rd Ariane 5 flight on May 20

PARIS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Arianespace has approved the preparation review of the third Ariane 5 flight, which is expected to lift two communication satellites on Friday from the spaceport in French Guiana, the European launching center said on Tuesday.

The prior readiness review approved that "Ariane 5 is now cleared for its May 19 rollout from the Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch zone, where it will be readied for liftoff on Friday at 5:38 p.m. local time in French Guiana," the space center said in a statement.

This dual payload flight will orbit GSAT-8 and ST-2 satellites, with a combined mass of 8,190 kilo grams.

Built by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Company, ST-2 will be utilized by the ST-2 Satellite Ventures joint company of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Company Ltd. for Ku- and C-band relay services across the Middle East, Central Asia, India and Southeast Asia.

The lighter passenger GSAT-8, built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), will serve to augment India's Ku- band relay capabilities and offer aircraft navigation assistance over Indian airspace and adjoining areas with its two-channel GAGAN system.

The Arianespace started its 2011 busy year for heavy-lift Ariane 5 with the milestone launch of Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) on February 16, and then a dual payload on April 22 that orbited Yahsat Y1A and Intelsat New Dawn satellites.