ESA satellite successfully delivered for final launch preparation
The European Space Agency's (ESA) INTEGRAL satellite has been successfully delivered to ESA's Space Technology and Research Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands. The satellite will use gamma rays to survey the universe and map radiation left over from the Big Bang in unprecedented detail. INTEGRAL, the most sensitive gamma-ray observatory ever launched, will now undergo environmental and system tests in preparation for lift off in October 2002. The convoy containing the satellite left Turin, Italy, on July 17 this year, accompanied by police escorts as it made the journey from Italy through France and Belgium to the Netherlands. The satellite was transported in two halves, each suspended in individual containers to absorb shocks and vibrations and supplied with a continuous stream of clean air. The containers were regularly checked by ESA quality control and mechanical engineers. INTEGRAL's ESA assembly, integration and verification manager, Eliseo Balaguer, said: 'We are relieved and happy that this major logistical exercise of transporting everything across Europe is over safely, and that the satellite is now with us. Reaching this stage represents a big accomplishment for all of us.' The two halves of the satellite - the payload module which carries the scientific instruments and the service module, where the spacecraft subsystems are housed - are now being prepared for reunification on August 17.