Lift off for second pair of Cluster II spacecraft
9 August 2000
ESA Press Release N0 52-2000 The second pair of Cluster satellites are now safely in separation orbit around the Earth after today's successful launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. At 13.13 CEST, (17.13 Baikonur Time - 13.13 CEST) ) a Soyuz-Fregat launch vehicle provided by the French-Russian Starsem consortium lifted off with Cluster satellites FM 5 (Rumba) and FM 8 (Tango). Approximately 75 minutes into the mission, the Fregat transfer module fired for a second time to insert the spacecraft into a 250 km x 18,000 km separation orbit. About 20 minutes later, the ground station in Kiruna, Sweden, confirmed that the satellites had successfully separated from the Fregat and were now flying in good health."This second perfect launch within less than four weeks means that Cluster is on track for a highly successful mission," said Professor Roger-Maurice Bonnet, ESA's Director of Science. "We are now looking forward to receiving the unique three-dimensional data that will give new understanding of the interaction between the Sun and Earth." Over the next week, Rumba and Tango will participate in a complex series of orbital manoeuvres in order to rendezvous with the other spacecraft in the Cluster flotilla (Salsa and Samba).
The quartet will then undergo three months of instrument and system commissioning before beginning their two-year scientific mission.
For regular status reports on the mission dial +49.6151.90.2609 at ESA/ESOC.
For more information, please contact:
ESA - Communication Department
Media Relations Office
Tel: +33 (0)1.53.69.71.55F
Fax: +33 (0)1.53.69.76.90
Alberto Gianolio, Cluster II Deputy Project Manager
Tel: +31 71 565 3394
Email: agianoli
estec.esa.nl
Philippe Escoubet, ESA Cluster Project Scientist
Tel: +31 71 565 3454
Email: cpescoubestec.esa.nl
Last Update: 1 September 2019
