Arianespace delivers Helios 2B into Sun-synchronous polar orbit on Ariane 5's seventh flight of 2009

18 December 2009

Arianespace wrapped up another successful year of operations with today’s orbiting of the French Helios 2B military observation satellite, which was lofted on the seventh Ariane 5 launch in 2009.

This daytime mission underscored Ariane 5’s capability to accommodate a full range of satellite payloads by placing Helios 2B into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit during a flight lasting just under one hour.

It was the third time in 2009 that Arianespace’s workhorse launcher carried defense and security payloads.  On its year-opening mission in February, Ariane 5 lofted two Spirale satellite demonstrators for a French-developed future early warning system, while its October 1 flight deployed the COMSATBw-1 secure telecommunications platform for Germany’s armed forces.

Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said these missions “underscore the strategic nature” of Arianespace’s role as a launch services provider, and confirms the access to space provided by a system that is backed by European governments and its space industry.

The successful close-out of 2009 launch operations came only days before the 30th anniversary of Ariane’s maiden flight, which was performed on December 24, 1979 with an Ariane 1 version.