With the OSC being successfully fueled and the final preparation activities completed the satellites could be stacked as they are installed on the launcher already attached to one another and it is only during commissioning that the clampband holding the satellites together is released and they separate.

In preparation the upper cone from the CSC was removed and fitted to the vertical integration stand allowing the OSC to be lowered on to it and the clampband fitted.

The OSC, clampband and cone was then lifted and lowered onto the CSC where the cone and umbilicals could be installed and mated.

The stacked satellites were then transferred back to the vertical integration stand in preparation for the next important activity, the hydrazine fueling of the CSC, after which the satellites will be ready to be transferred to the launcher in SP3.

It was a long day for the team who did a remarkable job stacking the satellites. Now off back to the guest house for a well earned meal.