19 September - Functional tests completed
The functional tests of the satellite have now been completed and the satellite is ready for fuelling. Today, the spacecraft will be rolled into the fuelling hall, where the fuel (hydrazine) will be loaded into the spacecraft's four titanium tanks.
It will take about eight hours to load 540 kg of hydrazine needed to put the spacecraft into a safe configuration. Fuelling is planned for Saturday 21 September. In the meantime, the fuelling team is carrying out the last preparations and checks of the fuelling equipment.
SCAPE suits are used to protect the fuelling operators from the toxic effects of hydrazine. Working in these suits for long periods of time is cumbersome and a lot of preparation time is spent making sure breathing air, wireless communications and basic suit adjustment are as confortable as possible.
