Guiana Prepares for Vega, Soyuz

摘要

Europe's spaceport, after 30 years of being a one-vehicle operation, is two years away from completing new launch pads for the Russian Soyuz and Italian-led Vega rockets, a transition that will place new demands on the facility's ability to house satellite teams and assure base security. The new arrivals will move the Guiana Space Center (CSG) from its current sleepy annual cadence of five Ariane 5 launches to a rate that, by 2010, should plateau at 5-6 Ariane 5 vehicles, 2-3 Soyuz rockets and 1-2 Vega liftoffs per year. With almost all Ariane 5 vehicles carrying two satellites each, that will mean processing up to 17 satellites and their engineering teams each year.