Entry 10: Ready for launch!
8 April 2010 – The day of launch has finally arrived and so everything is looking good for liftoff this afternoon at 15:57 CEST.
Yesterday, the Russian State Commission gave their formal go-ahead to launch and the pre-launch debriefing was held at ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Germany.
Following these two steps, Richard Francis, ESA's CryoSat-2 Project Manager announced, "We have received excellent support from the launch authorities in Baikonur, and the satellite, the launcher and the teams there are all green. We are ready for launch."
The weather is looking good in Baikonur today; this morning it was a sunny 8°C with a very slight breeze.