Launch day

For official information related to the CryoSat-2 launch please refer to ESA or CryoSat-2 web sites.

For the main milestones of the Count Down till lift off, please refer to the Campaign status on 6/4/2010.

For the main events after lift off please refer to Dniepr mission profile.

Watch the broadcasting of CryoSat-2 launch live.
Lift off @ 19:57 Baikonur (15:57 CEST)

Updates from launch team in Baikonur to be released later on today on this page.
All time below are Baikonur time (CEST= Baikonur time -4 hours).

• 7h45 am local weather conditions: +8C, very slight breeze, sunny, no clouds
• 9:41 am Preparing boarding the bus to the cosmodrome (Stephane ESA Photographer)
  

• 10:38 am Passing (on the left) road to launch pad 109 (view from bus)

• 10:54 am Daily debriefing
  

• 11:20 am Observing launch pad 109 from second floor of building 40, site 31 (at the silo, crane on truck available to remove "silo cover")

• 11:57 am Count Down Procedure (CDM) started. Launch -8:00h. Team picture.

• 13:34 Installing CS-2 mascot : Polar bears in Baikonur, Penguins at ESOC (step not foreseen in the CDM procedure:-)
  

• 14:01 CryoSat-2 powered on
• 15:07 Local weather conditions: +21C, very slight breeze, hazy (launch pad 109 under left the lamp post, shot taken from building 40 second floor)

• 17:30 Silo cover removed (artist view of the launch pad as it should look like now)
  

• 17:54 Local weather conditions: +20,9C, slight breeze, good visibility to launch pad, becomes cloudy
• 19:15 Local weather conditions: +17,5C, slight breeze, hazy but good visibility to launch pad
  

After a perfect lift off, separation and the acquisition of the first telemetry data at ESOC:

• 20:25 CryoSat-2 launch is declared Successful !!! a lot of emotion here at the MIK .

Just a sip of champagne (not Kazakh but French this time) before a celebration with our Russian colleagues at the Hotel Cosmonaut

Certainly life memories for the "Dream Team" after this fascinating adventure ...

and, en passant hello from MIK to all our friends from ESTEC, ESOC, ASTRIUM, THALES, ALENIA SPACE, CNES...sitting at the moment at ESOC.

...to be continued