November 13, 2005<br /><br />Arianespace to reschedule its heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA mission<br /><br />Arianespace's dual-satellite Ariane 5 ECA mission will be rescheduled in the<br />coming days following minor problems with the ground support infrastructure<br />at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.<br /><br />The Ariane 5 will be returned from the ELA-3 launch zone to the Spaceport's<br />final assembly building today to resolve the minor problems, which involve<br />the mobile launch table on which the heavy-lift vehicle is installed.<br /><br />Both the Ariane 5 and its dual payload of Spaceway 2 for DIRECT TV and<br />Telkom 2 for PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia remain in a safe standby mode.<br /><br />The Boeing-built Spaceway 2 will enable U.S. operator DIRECTV to bring local<br />high-definition programming to most of the U.S. population, as well as<br />expand its standard-definition local offerings.<br /><br />Telkom 2 is an Orbital Sciences Corporation STAR 2 spacecraft platform, and<br />it will be used by Indonesia's PT Telkom to expand its satellite<br />communications coverage area into the ASEAN region and the Indian<br />subcontinent.