Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket is rolled from its Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch pad at the Guiana Space Center for a December 21, 2016 liftoff to conduct its seventh and final mission of the year – riding into orbit with a duo of commercial communications satellites.

The Star One D1 and JCSat-15 communications satellites are installed atop their Ariane 5 rocket for the eleventh and final Arianespace mission of 2016, set for a late December launch into Geostationary Transfer Orbit.

A European Ariane 5 ECA rocket completes assembly at the Guiana Space Center for its year-closing mission, lifting the Star One D1 and JCSat-15 communications satellites into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit.

Star One D1 and JCSat-15 – both commercial communications satellites manufactured by Space Systems/Loral – are processed for launch at the Guiana Space Center, gearing up for the closing launch of 2016 for Europe’s Ariane 5 workhorse rocket.