The ESA/CNES operations team at ATV-CC, Toulouse, will be ‘on-console’ today for pre-launch activities starting at H0-16hr (12:34 GMT, 13:34CET).

One of the main jobs today will be uploading the initial flight data sets into ATV Amaldi‘s computers — data sets that include the initial mission plan for the launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) and GPS navigation data. The team will also transfer over to Kourou ATV’s final ‘automatic sequence’ plans — these manage everything that happens on board starting with separation from the Ariane 5 upper stage about 64 minutes after lift-off.