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| | | | | | | | | Upper-composite moved out of UCIF | |
Upper-composite transferred to launcher integration facility
14 July 2006
Following the encapsulation of MetOp and the Fregat upper-stage in the fairing a few days ago, the so-called 'upper-composite' has taken the overnight train journey to the Soyuz launcher preparation facility to be integrated onto the launcher before the complete structure is rolled out to the launch pad today.
In preparation for the six-hour journey, the upper-composite was hermetically sealed and moved out of the Upper Composite Integration Facility (UCIF). In the outer hall it was lifted by crane and transferred to the train, which is a particularly dangerous procedure as both MetOp and Fregat are fuelled.
| | | Upper-composite lifted onto train |
Once the structure was safely loaded onto the train safety restrictions were relaxed and the engineers could take a look at the precious cargo perched on the wagon.
After ensuring that the thermal conditioning system was in order, the train left MIK 112 late evening on Monday 10 July. As the train is not allowed to go more than 10 km/h the journey took all night to reach the Soyuz launcher preparation facility.
During the entire journey it was escorted by an ambulance and a fire engine, which drove along a road by the side of the train track, as well as by two MetOp team members who rode on the train to check on the actual environment.
| | Upper-composite (left) and Soyuz (right) | |
By morning the convoy had reached MIK40 close to the launch pad. Here the upper-composite was off-loaded by crane and placed in front of the Soyuz third-stage. By the end of Tuesday 11 July the upper-composite had been mated with the third-stage. The expertise with which this was carried out was very impressive, demonstrating the benefit that has been gained over more than 1700 Soyuz launches.
The fully assembled launcher will be rolled-out on Friday and erected on the launch tower, to be ready for launch on Monday 17 July.
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| | Launch diary MetOp launch statusEurope's first polar-orbiting weather satellite ready for launchIntegration of MetOp upper-composite and third-stage completeSafe arrival at the launch facility for MetOpMetOp encapsulated in fairingMetOp integrated with Fregat upper-stageMetOp launch campaign resumedMetOp to be launched in OctoberLaunch of MetOp-A postponedMetOp ready for launchLast-ever look at MetOpMetOp joins Fregat upper-stageMetOp fuelled and pressurisedMetOp-A gets green light for 17 July launch dateMetOp – last phase of testing before launchMetOp satellite shipped to Baikonur on 18 AprilIn depth Soyuz launch vehicleBaikonurRelated links EUMETSATEADS-AstriumStarsemNOAACNES
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