Reaching for the Sky

FRENCH Space Agency engineer Michel Starozinski (left) pointing out the trajectory of a satellite to Venture Southland project manager Robin McNeill at the Awarua tracking station being set up near Invercargill.

The tracking station is 90 percent complete and the most important of the four stations around the world that will monitor the launch of a huge 20-tonne satellite destined for the international space station.

Mr Starozinski said the satellite would be carrying an automated transfer vehicle (ATV) and the Awarua station would be the last in a chain of stations monitoring its progress.

A crucial stage was the separation of the ATV from the satellite, which would happen about an hour after launch, south of New Zealand. The satellite would be launched in September from Europe and be travelling 10 times faster than a rifle bullet.

Six more ATV-carrying satellites were planned to be launched in the next 10 years, he said.

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