The LEOP support (Launch and Early Orbit Phase) for the Italian satellite COSMO-SkyMed (committed by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence) from SSC's Esrange Satellite Station is over.

LEOP was successfully completed on June 11th and a "near sun-synch" orbit has been reached. SSC will continue to support the mission with routine TT&C (Telemetry, Tracking & Command) and data acquisition services.

“Together we went through a very challenging job, starting from 'station preparation' up to 'first acquisitions' procedures. All involved demonstrated concrete and professional expertise. Passes over the Esrange Satellite Station were great, and the network coordination between the ground station and the Control Centre in Fucino performed exactly right", says Mr. Gaetano Censi, ground operation manager at Telespazio.

In addition, SSC will provide LEOP support to the three following satellites of the COSMO-SkyMed fleet. The next one, satellite number two, is preliminary scheduled for a launch in October 2007.

Read our previous news item about COSMO-SkyMed