Posted on April 25, 2016 by Daniel
Arianespace Soyuz flight VS14 countdown back on
Our colleagues at Arianespace have just posted an update confirming that the launch countdown for Soyuz VS14 is back on for tonight.
Tag Archives: Soyuz
Posted on April 24, 2016 by Daniel
Sentinel-1B launch delayed due to anomaly
Following an anomaly observed during the countdown for the launch of Soyuz flight VS14 carrying Sentinel-1B, the countdown was halted. The launch vehicle and satellites have been switched into a completely safe standby mode. The new launch...
Posted on April 3, 2014 by Honora
A day of separation
After a long day that started at 06:32:00 with the request for authorisation to start the countdown, we continued with the well-sequenced activities for the launch pad preparation, the satellite switch-on, all the way to its launch...
Posted on April 1, 2014 by Honora
Last look at Sentinel-1A
Our campaign to prepare Sentinel-1A for launch is nearing an end as the satellite has now been encapsulated in the Soyuz rocket fairing and set to be transferred to the launch pad. On Wednesday 28 March the...
Posted on March 26, 2014 by Honora
Fuelling done!
Marking a milestone on the road to launch, the team finished loading Sentinel-1A’s fuel last Friday and pressurised the tanks on Monday. “We are very happy and relieved that we have reached this important milestone,” said Svein...
Posted on March 3, 2014 by Honora
Visiting the launch pad
Over the weekend, Thales Alenia Space continued busily testing the Sentinel-1A satellite to ensure that everything is working okay after its long journey to the launch site. A highlight over the weekend for the ESA team was...
Posted on September 14, 2012 by Honora
Successful integration of the upper composite, containi...
Taken from EUMETSAT, 12 September The mechanical integration of the Upper Composite with Soyuz Block was performed successfully on 11 September, and electrical tests are now underway. Weighing about 12 tonnes (12,000 kilos), the Upper Composite was carefully lifted with a crane onto a train on the afternoon of 10 September. The train and its precious cargo made a slow and steady journey overnight, finally arriving at its destination the following morning. Once safely inside the MIK 40 processing facility, the mechanical integration of the Upper Composite and Soyuz Block I was initiated and completed. The launch team is now conducting a series of electrical tests and everything is running according to...
Posted on September 11, 2012 by Honora
Yes ! We finally did it!
From Damiano (ESA), Baikonur, 10 September MetOp-B is in its Soyuz fairing ready to be transported to the Mik-40 for integration on the launcher. It’s been a very busy two weeks here in Baikonur. Getting closer to the end of the campaign, in fact, means also having less time to recover any time spent in solving unexpected issues. And, unfortunately, we’ve had a few …. so, busy long days for the teams. However, we got the green light in the end and we can move closer to the launch pad. After fuelling MetOp we started the combined operation with the launcher. First the spacecraft was mated to the launcher adapter and, in...
Posted on March 13, 2012 by Mariangela
MetOp launch campaign takes off
From Damiano Serlenga (ESA), Baikonur Cosmodrome, 6 March 2012 We have arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. We flew on an Antonov cargo aircraft from Toulouse, France along with several containers of ground support equipment we need to prepare MetOp-B for launch on 23 May. The shipment from France to Kazakhstan was made by three Antonov cargo aircraft. The first carried 12 containers of equipment needed to prepare the satellite for launch, the second carried the MetOp-B satellite (the payload module and service module) along with another 6 containers and the third flight carried MetOp-B’s solar array and 10 more containers. The journey hasn’t been easy as the weather caused delays....