Construction of the new Soyuz launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais – CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
A crane installs counterweights at the base of one of the four Soyuz primary support arms. When this ingenious support arm concept was originally developed for the Soyuz launch vehicle family, its designers gave it the nickname ‘tulip’. This refers to the tilt-back movement of its four ‘petals’ – which begins when the arms are opened by the upward motion of the launch vehicle, followed by their tracking outward with the force provided by their counterweights.