The review cleared Flight 156's Ariane 4 for the 17 December liftoff, and confirmed the readiness of its NSS-6 telecom satellite payload. Launch infrastructure at the Spaceport was declared ready for the mission, as were the downrange tracking stations.

This flight will be the second-to-last mission for the Ariane 4 launcher family. It is the 115th launch of an Ariane 4, and the 39th in the 44L version - which is equipped with four large liquid strap-on boosters for augmented thrust at liftoff and initial ascent.

The NSS-6 satellite was built by Lockheed Martin and carries a payload with high-performance Ku-band beams. To be positioned at 95 deg. East, the platform will reach markets from the Mediterranean Sea to Japan - covering Asia, Australia, Southern Africa and the Middle East.

Arianespace's previous launch for the Netherlands-based New Skies Satellites was last April, when Flight 150 placed the NSS-7 satellite into a highly accurate geostationary transfer orbit.