Arianespace has announced the timeframe for its initial three missions this year - covering two Ariane 5 liftoffs and one Soyuz flight - that will kick off the company's busy 2014 launch manifest.

Lofting five payloads in total, these missions will commence this year's accelerated pace from the Spaceport, as Arianespace targets 12 missions from French Guiana in 2014 based on payload availability, which would surpass the company's previous yearly-record of 10 launches during 2012.

Designated Flight VA217 in the company's numbering system, the Ariane 5 mission with the French-Italian Athena-Fidus satellite and ABS-2 spacecraft for global operator ABS will initiate this year's launch activity, with liftoff now set for February 6 at 5:30 p.m. local time in French Guiana.

The heavy-lift Ariane 5 workhorse will also perform Arianespace's second mission this year - scheduled for March 7 - which is to loft SES' Astra 5B and HISPASAT's Amazonas 4A spacecraft on Flight VA216.

The seventh medium-weight Soyuz flight from the Spaceport - designated Flight VS07 - will round out Arianespace's first three 2014 missions. It is slated for March 28, and will carry Sentinel 1A for the European Space Agency (ESA).

Arianespace's complete launcher family will be active from the Spaceport in 2014, with six Ariane 5 liftoffs, four Soyuz flights and two lightweight Vega launches targeted for this year to meet the company's objective of 12 total missions.

International Launch Services (ILS) Receives Mission Assignment From Intelsat for Intelsat DLA-2 for Launch in 2015
Reston, VA International Launch Services (ILS), a leading commercial launch services provider, has received the first launch assignment from Intelsat of the two missions announced in March 2013.

The satellite, Intelsat DLA-2, also known as Intelsat 31, will be launched by ILS Proton in 2015 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan utilizing the vehicle's Phase IV performance capability.

A high power satellite, Intelsat DLA-2 is currently under construction by SSL of Palo Alto, California, based on the flight proven 1300 platform. The 6 metric ton satellite will provide in orbit protection services for the DIRECTV Latin America Direct-to-Home (DTH) television platform, a leading DTH digital television services operator in Latin America. This will be the 11th ILS Proton launch for Intelsat and the 5th mission to support DIRECTV.

The second Intelsat satellite launch assignment awarded to ILS will be announced in the future.

Arianespace Flight VA217: Launch scheduled for Thursday, February 6, 2014
Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Jan 16 - With the component replacement on the Ariane 5 ECA launcher and the associated checks now being completed, Arianespace can set the date for its next launch, VA217, using an Ariane 5 ECA to orbit the ABS-2 and Athena-Fidus satellites.

Liftoff of the Ariane 5 ECA launcher is now slated for Thursday, February 6 at 5:30 pm local time in Kourou, French Guiana (3:30 pm, in Washington D.C., 20:30 UTC, 9:30 pm in Paris, and on Friday, February 7 at 5:30 am in Hong Kong).

The following launch, VA216, carrying the Astra 5B and Amazonas 4A satellites, is scheduled for March 7, 2014.

The first launch of the Soyuz rocket this year from the Guiana Space Center, VS07, carrying the Sentinel 1A satellite, is set for March 28.

Ariane 5 ECA - ABS-2 and Athena-Fidus
Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Jan 16 - Evry, January 14, 2014. With the component replacement on the Ariane 5 ECA launcher and the associated checks now being completed, Arianespace can set the date for its next launch, VA217, using an Ariane 5 ECA to orbit the ABS-2 and Athena-Fidus satellites.

Liftoff of the Ariane 5 ECA launcher is now slated for Thursday, February 6 at 5:30 pm local time in Kourou, French Guiana (3:30 pm, in Washington D.C., 20:30 UTC, 9:30 pm in Paris, and on Friday, February 7 at 5:30 am in Hong Kong).

The following launch, VA216, carrying the Astra 5B and Amazonas 4A satellites, is scheduled for March 7, 2014.

The first launch of the Soyuz rocket this year from the Guiana Space Center, VS07, carrying the Sentinel 1B satellite, is set for March 28.