[img]http://www.ilslaunch.com/assets/Images/Media/W2A-Blog/satblog.jpg[/img] Thales and KhSC setup for the fitcheck most of 9 March, so the 10th could be the day to watch RUAG shine. The Swedish team measured, tensioned, measured again, and notated that things fit right into place. All parties agreed that this was worth the thousands of hours of work and anticipation. The variety and complexity of the SC and PLA arrangement was a marvel of nature, or it would have been, if it wasn’t all man-made. The Breeze-M Upper Stage moved to the fueling station for its two days of loading and upon return, will be the first piece installed on the tilter. So with the fit check complete, the Breeze-M partially fuelled and the PLA back in H101, the satellite will finish stand alone operations before the authorization is given by Eutelsat to proceed with propellant loading operations.

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Stand alone operations are ongoing for Thales and KhSC. While Thales performs electrical and mechanical Spacecraft checkouts in H103A, KhSC works in H101 to prepare for operations on the Breeze-M which arrived at Yubileiny and was transported by truck to 92A-50 on 4 Mar. The Launch vehicle is finishing pneumatic testing and after cleaning and testing, the payload fairing halves are resting in storage until integration. RUAG specialists are scheduled to arrive within the week to begin work on the separation system. Coordination meetings between the teams are increasing in frequency and duration which means the Spacecraft and payload adaptor fitcheck is just on the horizon.

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[img]http://www.ilslaunch.com/assets/Images/Media/W2A-Blog/scblog.jpg[/img] Early and main team arrival and check-in to the hotels completed just in time to watch a launch of a Federal Satellite on a Proton K Block DM from pad 24. After facility acceptance of 92A-50, office setup and control room configuration began. The Antonov landed around 11h45 on 28 Feb at Yubileiny Airfield carrying the W2A SC and ground support equipment. Watching the 5 hour off load of the Antonov and on load to the railcar was a “miracle of Russian technology.” After the 5-6 hour train ride to 92A-50, the train backed into Hall 101 around 23h00. The late shift began work unloading the SC container and equipment from the railcars and by 06h00 we were able to get the first glimpse of the SC outside of the container.

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Welcome to the first ILS Proton launch campaign for 2009 – the launch of the W2A satellite for Eutelsat, built by Thales Alenia Space. Follow along with the launch team as they prepare for the end of march mission.

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