[Satellite TODAY 12-03-09] Arianespace has entered final preparations for the Dec. 9 launch of the French Space Agency’s (CNES) Helios 2B military observation satellite, Arianespace announced Dec. 2.
        Helios 2B, built and developed by EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, will be placed into a Sun-synchronous orbit and managed by the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA), which assigned contracting authority for the space segment to CNES. Helios 2B is the second satellite in France’s next-generation space-borne observation system for military applications that will be used in conjunction with Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece.
    This is Arianespace’s seventh and final launch of 2009.

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