Ariane 5 flight VA261: payload encapsulation

The Ariane 5 rocket is approaching readiness for its final liftoff scheduled for 16 June, with the protective fairing being positioned around the two payloads it will orbit on flight VA261: DLR’s Heinrich Hertz and France's Syracuse 4b.

VA261 marks the 117^th outing for Ariane 5, a series which began in 1996 and carried to space a long series of commercial and scientific missions. Notable payloads include ESA’s comet-chasing Rosetta, a dozen of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites – orbited with just three launches – and the James Webb Space Telescope. Ariane 5’s next-to-last lift-off launched ESA’s Juice mission to Jupiter on 14 April 2023.