Especially after the emotions of the day before…

CCU3 transfer from S1A to S3B – these pictures also arrived too late…

Team bonding around food and drinks.

Encounter with a real monster, fortunately tamed by Luca.

Constantin between paparazzi and VIPs… definitely our STAR!

Fantastic team moments in Esoc…

… in CSG, and from remote!

The last words of this blog will be to thank all the contributors to this success. It did not happen by chance, there has been a lot of work behind the scenes and of course a bit of luck. The greatest satisfaction is not only the result; what will remain in our memories is the way we experienced this special period together, as one team, both in the good and in the challenging times. We made it! It was a great adventure, with a happy end that is so rewarding.

A last “thank you” to our families, friends, colleagues and followers who supported us at each step of the way and it was precious.

The commissioning activities started on Monday 9 September and ran nominally since then. Part of the first week objectives is getting the first images of our Multi-Spectral Instrument. This was achieved over Thursday 12 and Friday 13 September. We selected to share on the blog, among many amazing pictures, the one of Sevilla, the city which was also paired with the last Vega launcher.

It’s really worth to explore further, via the “first images” link on side bar, what the Sentinel-2C instrument can already deliver, before any in-flight calibration!

Another wonderful picture to share is the one taken by Sentinel-2B over French Guiana while Sentinel-2C was still on the launch pad (follow the link “2B captures 2C’). These 2 will for sure make a great team!

Sentinel-2C will now continue undergoing the in-orbit commissioning – during the 3 months following the launch – while drifting towards Sentinel-2A. The 2 satellites A and C will fly some time in tandem to allow for a cross calibration of their instruments, before Sentinel-2C officially takes up its duty and replaces Sentinel-2A in routine operations early 2025.

For the Sentinel-2C launch & LEOP teams, it seems to be the right time to conclude this blog with the fantastic feeling of “mission accomplished”.

The last days of activity for the launch campaign team were dedicated to packing and preparing the return shipment with CSG logistics team.

Of course, the last item to be packed was… the coffee machine.

A few equipment will return by plane, a few others will remain on site to support the next ESA campaign (Sentinel-1C on VEGA-C VV25 starting in October) and all satellite GSEs together with the empty satellite transport container will be stored for 1 month in CSG awaiting to be loaded on board the Canopée for the trip back to Bremen and then by road to Airbus premises in Friedrichshafen.

A first part of the launch campaign team flew back home or to Darmstadt. The second part will follow shortly. We could not leave the CSG without marking that Sentinel-2C team was there!

During these last 2 days in Esoc, the teams A and B alternated on console every 12 hour to bring the satellite in its nominal pointing mode. All went so well that the timeline could even be accelerated. Late on Friday, during the B team shift, the maneuvering capabilities of the satellite were successfully verified.

The LEOP was declared completed shortly after, only 46 hours after lift-off.

The start of the commissioning activities is planned on Monday, leaving so time for all teams in Esoc to celebrate the great achievement!

As it is the tradition at each end of LEOP … Sentinel-2C has deserved its place on the MCR board!

Well done everyone!!

Our colleagues in Estec started the day with a “Sentinel-2C Launch event / Breakfast” – A big thank you to Valérie and Claudia for organizing and animating the event!

A bit later in Kourou, we held the CRAL (post-launch review) where the smooth execution of the countdown and excellent performances of the launcher were reported and acknowledged by all. The satellite injection was perfect. The acquisition of signal (satellite telemetry) was performed as expected over Troll ground station and revealed that the solar array was already deployed. We confirmed to the review board that the satellite operations had started in very good conditions.
At the end of the meeting, a lot of congratulations were exchanged between all the parties contributing to this success, with a visible satisfaction (and relief). There was also a lot of emotion as VV24 was the last (and a bit special) VEGA flight. That marks the end of the VEGA first generation (VEGA-C being the next), which already safely launched Sentinel-2A , – 2B , and now -2C.

At the end of the day in Kourou, we all met at the Launch Party and celebrated this success together as it should be!

The issue that prevented the launch yesterday has been understood and fixed, all the ground links involved have been checked again late in the night so that we can confirm we are GO for a launch today!

All teams were ready to start the countdown activities 8 hours before lift-off

Kourou – LBC

Kourou – Jupiter 2

Darmstadt – Project Support Room

Darmstadt – Main Control Room

In Jupiter 2, all green… Sentinel-2C was switched ON and set-up in launch configuration.

H0-4 hours, half way through the chronology, all lights were still green. The Mobile Gantry was retracted on the launch pad, revealing our launcher on a very nice pink/purple sunset sky,

A few minutes before lift-off, all still green including the last weather forecast.

Notification from Kourou to our colleagues in Darmstadt: your parcel has been shipped…

H0 + 00:57:32 Sentinel-2C separation

Notification from Kourou to our colleagues in Darmstadt: your parcel has been delivered!

H0+01:11:47 AOS from Troll station

Notification from Darmstadt to Kourou: your parcel has been received!

The day started like this, with many messages from our families, colleagues, friends… all carrying the same good wishes, that went right to our hearts before to start the countdown.

Everybody was ready, and the countdown started as planned.

But… we got a “red” from the launch base that stopped the countdown at H0- 4:19:47.

Investigations are on-going, and hopefully it’s only a postponement until tomorrow. Stay tuned!

The main event of this last day before the launch was the Launch Readiness Review chaired by Arianespace: after status review of all involved entities, the go ahead was given without reservation for the launch of Sentinel-2C on VEGA flight VV24 with a lift-off at 01:50 UTC on 4/9.

At the launch pad, the last activities were performed: launcher final arming and flight closure of fairing tooling door. The satellite team took also advantage of the last slot of battery charge.

At Esoc, the Pre-Launch Briefing was held with the LEOP team and it was also the time for family pictures.

Notification from Kourou to our colleagues in Darmstadt: your parcel is being prepared…

More than words, some pictures of the great team moments we enjoyed this weekend in the fantastic nature of French Guiana.

On Friday, the day started with a “family picture” of the Sentinel-2C on VV24 launch team gathering all actors on site – a team of teams!

Following the successful Dress Rehearsal performed on Thursday, we held the Satellite Launch Readiness Review (LRR). This formal check-point confirmed that both Sentinel-2C Satellite and Ground Segment are GREEN for the launch. The status will be reported during the Launcher LRR on Monday, and that will be the last formal decision point to authorize the launch.

A slot for battery charge was exploited and allowed to get very close to the targeted end of charge voltage for the launch. Next slot will be on Monday.

The last “CSG” tour for the satellite team was organized and was again very much appreciated.

The next 2 days – weekend – will be fully dedicated to RELAXING before D0 (day zero), knowing that between D-1 and D0 there is a D-1.1 which is Monday… yes, it is confusing.

Just check the countdown in the left side bar!

This Thursday, the same procedure as for the final launch chronology has been executed by the launch base, the VEGA launcher, the S2C satellite team in CSG and the Ground Segment Operations team in Esoc. The lift-off time was simulated at 16:00 UTC, and the first operations started 8 hours before, synchronized between the different entities by a common timeline.

This is what it looked like in Esoc, in the Project Support Room:

… and in the Main Control Room.

Marc, Bogdan, Jesus and Erwin (and many more experts from ESA and ADS) in the PSR were analyzing the satellite real time telemetry transmitted from Kourou via the NDIU routers. Ana and Davide in the MCR coordinated the interactions between Project Support and Operations teams. All the systems were “green”, including the Ground Stations.

During that time in CSG, from the LBC, ADS check-out team configured the satellite for launch while Luca was managing the communication with Esoc.

Finally, from CSG Jupiter 2 control room, Constantin, Patricia, Gunn and Martijn were coordinating with Arianespace the execution of the chronology procedure between satellite, operations, launcher and launch base.

This is when the simulation stopped for us all. It was a good training for all entities involved and only few minor points were noted to be adjusted for D0.

During the same day, somewhere in Tuscany, another “Dress Rehearsal” took place, for another major event which also required long and careful preparation…

Andrea, you are also “GREEN” to walk your daughter down the aisle!