http://www.arianespace.com/site/news/news_sub_featurestory_index02.html
Starsem’s Soyuz launch campaign is on track for a December 14 liftoff with RADARSAT-2
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December 5, 2007
Satellite and launch vehicle preparations are continuing on schedule at Baikonur Cosmodrome for the December 14 liftoff of RADARSAT-2 – Canada’s next-generation commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite, which will be orbited aboard a Soyuz launch vehicle operated by Arianespace’s Starsem affiliate.
RADARSAT-2 has been installed on the adapter that serves as its interface with the launcher, and the spacecraft has undergone pre-launch electrical testing. This activity occurred in clean room conditions at Starsem’s Upper Composite Integration Facility at Baikonur Cosmodrome.
In parallel, the Soyuz launcher’s Fregat upper stage completed its pneumatic tests, and has been loaded with the propellant that will be used in delivering RADARSAT-2 to its sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 800 kilometers. It was transferred to Starsem’s Upper Composite Integration Facility on December 3 as planned.
The launch of RADARSAT-2 is set for December 14, 2007, at 7:17 p.m.(local time at Baikonur Cosmodrome, 2:17 p.m. in Paris) on the 20th commercial Soyuz mission managed by Starsem.
RADARSAT-2 is the follow-on to Canada’s highly successful RADARSAT-1 platform, which was launched in 1995. Missions to be performed by this commercial C-band synthetic aperture radar satellite include marine surveillance, ice monitoring, disaster management, environmental monitoring, resource management and mapping in Canada and around the world.
The RADARSAT-2 spacecraft was developed in a unique government/industry collaboration involving the Canadian Space Agency and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA). MDA is to operate the satellite and ground segment, while the Canadian Space Agency contributed funds for RADARSAT-2’s construction and launch.
RADARSAT-2 incorporates technical advancements that include 3-meter high-resolution imaging, flexibility in selection of its scanning polarization, left and right-looking imaging options, superior data storage and more precise measurements of spacecraft position and attitude.
The workhorse Soyuz is a member of Arianespace’s growing family of commercial launch vehicles. This medium-lift launcher will be joining Ariane 5 in operations from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana beginning in 2009.
jancarlobascu - 10/12/2007 6:22 PM
YOy can post the assembly photos?
jancarlobascu - 11/12/2007 3:22 AM
YOy can post the assembly photos?
elmarko - 13/12/2007 10:14 AM
I'm assuming this is going to be webcast on the Arianespace website? I work at a university and our students finish tomorrow, so if I'm lucky one of the lecture theatres may be open... I think you can see where I'm going with this ;)
Chris Bergin - 13/12/2007 12:57 PM
Just over an hour until launch.
astropl - 13/12/2007 12:02 PMQuoteChris Bergin - 13/12/2007 12:57 PM
Just over an hour until launch.
Plus one day... :)
Stephan - 14/12/2007 12:51 PM
Some nice flags ;)
Chris Bergin - 14/12/2007 7:24 AM
Coverage ends.
anik - 14/12/2007 4:12 PM
According to Novosti kosmonavtiki forum, Radarsat 2 satellite has been successfully separated from Fregat upper stage...
Chris Bergin - 14/12/2007 7:36 AM
You can hear the Russian pad rats driving back to the launch pad about 30 second after launch :laugh: