Launch update Wednesday 21st
At around midday (Kazakhstan) today all activities were halted as the Russian facility personnel moved the encapsulated fairing from the UCIF (Upper Composite Integration Facility)and on to the train transporters. This is a routine stop in operations and is no cause for alarm.
Because the Fregat is fully fuelled it represents a potential safety hazard and must be treated with due care. During the manoeuvre, only a core team is allowed on site and they must wear gas masks.
The Fregat is lowered onto the rail transporter. This image will be available shortly in high resolution from the gallery - link on the right hand side of this blog.
This evening at 21:00 (Kazakhstan) the train will depart to the rocket integration facility, for integration with the Soyuz rocket to commence tomorrow.
Also tonight, the SSTL launch team will witness a Soyuz (Progress) launch to re-supply the space station that takes off just after midnight. It is not all hard work for the team.
Today, while they were removed from the immediate vicinity of the Fregat, the launch team have started packing their equipment into the two 20 foot sea containers that we will ship everything back to ESTEC (and then to Surrey Satellite Technology in Guildford). The launch equipment being used in Kazakhstan includes the protection for the satellite and its delicate solar panels and the satellite fuelling equipment.
Also, sensitive test and integration equipment, transmitters and receivers used during the on-site testing phase test will be re-used in future missions.
