Ariane 5 spaceport preparation campaign

The main ground facilities at the Spaceport that support an Ariane 5 flight were:

• the trajectography system used in the first phases of flight to monitor the launcher’s trajectory
• radars
• launcher telemetry acquisition system
• flight safety system - a remote control system able to destroy the launcher in flight if the trajectory was not nominal
• meteorological centre to provide weather forecasts before each flight
• optical systems to provide technical high-speed images of liftoff
• telecommunication systems to allow worldwide connections

All these facilities were checked and configured 10 days before liftoff to ensure they were able to support the flight. Finally, three days before liftoff, a full-scale rehearsal took place to test all systems.