Launch campaign
After the satellite integration and the final system tests, the Humsat-D team started the launch campaign at the beginning of October 2013.
Health-check and packing
A complete health check was performed over the satellite. Afterwards, it was carefully packed to travel to Rome.
Integration in UNISAT-5
Once in Rome, another health-check was performed in order to verify that there were no damages in the satellite due to the transport from Vigo.
Before the integration inside UNISAT-5, the satellite batteries were recharged for the last time and the OBC was configured in pre-launch conditions, ready to be activated after the POD separation.
The last step after the integration into UNISAT-5 was to insert the Connect Before Flight (CBF) device. This device indicates to the satellite that is inside the launcher and that it can activate all the subsystems and deploy the antennas once the separation from the POD is detected.
Once integrated in UNISAT-5, the satellite remains under the responsability of GAUSS team. They are in charge of carrying the satellite to Russia to be integrated in the DNEPR launcher.
Travel to Russia : integration in DNEPR
After some days of travel the members of GAUSS team arrived to Yasny (Russia). There they performed the final checks over the UNISAT-5 satellite and integrated the satellite onto the Space Head Module (SHM) of the DNEPR launcher.
Lift-off!
The launch date of the RS-20B rocket with UNISAT-5 and many other payloads from Dombarovsky missile area (Yasny Launch Base) has been established for November 21st, 2013 at 07:10:11 UTC.
The back-up launch date is November 22nd, 2013 at 07:10:11 UTC.
After the launch, UNISAT-5 will release Humsat-D from its POD and the mission operations will start!
