Launch of the first pair of European Space Agency (ESA) Cluster II science satellites on a Starsem Soyuz-Fregat booster from Baikonur has been set for 15 July.
This is three days later than planned, to accommodate the flight of a Proton booster with the International Space Station Zvezda module. A second pair of Clusters will be launched by a Soyuz booster from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on 9 August.
An ESA image (above) shows an artist's impression of the Soyuz payload shrouds separating during the core first stage burn 3min into the flight, after the separation of the vehicle's four strap-on first stage motors. The separation exposes the Cluster satellites on the Fregat upper stage attached to the booster's second stage.
The four Cluster IIs, which were assembled by Astrium (formerly Dornier Satellitensysteme) will fly in close formation above the Earth's poles, exploring the magnetosphere and the interaction between the sun and Earth.
The mission will provide a small-scale, three-dimensional "map" of near-Earth space. The original Clusters were destroyed in the failure of the maiden Ariane 5 launch, which took place in 1996.
Source: Flight International
