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Soyuz launched for the first time from the spaceport in French Guyana

French Guyana, France - Another pair will be launched into orbit next year

Aerospace
06:08 pm - Monday, October 17, 2011
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(WAPA) - The Soyuz rocket that will take off for the first time from Europe's Spaceport situated in French Guyana has been moved to the launch pad last Saturday 15 October and will be send into orbit the first two Galileo navigation satellites.

The rocket Soyuz ST-B was moved horizontally on its erector using the 600metre railway line that leads to the base and then be raised into its launch position.

Last week, the two "Galileo In-Orbit Validation" were mated to the upper stage of the "Fregat-MT" enclosing them in the fairing. The ''Upper Composite", transferred the day before, was then added to the vehicle, thus completing the first Soyuz on its launch pad at the European spaceport.

The new mobile launch pad, built specially for the operations of the rocket in French Guyana, provides also protection from humid tropical environment.

In the coming days, the Soyuz and "Upper Composite" will undergo a complete test launch, including preparations for fuelling the vehicle, a process that should begin four hours and a half before liftoff.

October's launch will be doubly historic: the first Soyuz launch from a spaceport in Baikonur in Kazakhstan or Plesetsk in Russia, and secondly because it is the beginning of building Europe's Galileo navigation satellite constellation.

The medium-class rocket, will extend the flexibility and competitiveness of the two European launchers Ariane and Vega and next year another pair of satellites will be launched into orbit, proving that the Galileo system is in advance of the other 26 satellites.

These four satellites, built by a consortium led by EADS Astrium in Germany, will form the nucleus of the full Galileo constellation. (Avionews)

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