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Herschel and Planck launch timeline
11 May 2009
| About 0.5 hours after launch, Herschel separates from the launcher upper stage (a couple of minutes before Planck) and starts its cruise to L2 (the second Lagrangian point), situated at about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.
Credits: ESA – D. Ducros, 2009 | |  |  | |
| | | | | Herschel and Planck will launch together on an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, in spring 2009. The satellites will separate shortly after launch and proceed independently to different orbits around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, or L2. The Ariane 5 will burn its solid boosters for slightly less than 2.5 minutes and its main and upper stage engines for about 25 minutes, setting Herschel and Planck on the path to L2.
Credits: ESA – D. Ducros, 2009 | | | | |
| | | | | An Ariane 5 will carry Herschel and Planck into space. About 30 minutes after launch. The launcher's solid rocket boosters will separate from the upper stage approximately 2.5 minutes after launch, and the fairing will come off about 4 minutes after launch. Following this first Herschel, and then Planck, will separate from the upper stage.
Credits: ESA – D. Ducros 2009 | | | | |
| | | | | This animation shows the Herschel spacecraft leaving Earth and heading towards its operational orbit around the 2nd Lagrangian Point (L2).
L2 is a virtual point in space situated at 1.5 million kilometres from Earth (about four times the distance between Earth and the Moon), in the opposite direction to the Sun.
Herschel will orbit L2 at an average distance of about 800 000 km; a minimum of three years of routine science operations are foreseen.
Credits: ESA (animation by C. Carreau) | | | | |
| | | | | This artist's concept shows the path of Planck to its operational orbit around the second Lagrangian point in space (L2), 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth.
Credits: ESA - C. Carreau | | | | |
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