As ATV-CC prepares for the 5th and last launch of an ATV, 29th of July at 23:47 GMT. During the pre-launch phase ATV-CC Ground Controllers are checking all communication links with International Partners.

Redu

Redu

The countdown with Kourou has started and “so far, so good” confirms Jean-Christophe Ronnet, the ESA Mission Director for this phase. One issue has been reported by NASA concerning the potential degradation of one of the relay satellites used for communication, TDRS, due to a tropical storm over Guam island, where NASA operates a TDRS ground station.

Fortunately, according to Jean-Christophe, the situation can be mitigated by the use of ARTEMIS, the European relay satellite, operated by ESA’s Redu Ground station in Belgium.

“We are now 2 hours from launch, the planned Ariane 5 launch and the ground controllers of ATV-CC are continuing the final checks.”