Cluster launch preparations

Cluster spacecraft F1 and F2 are encapsulated by the fairing on top of the Speltra unit in the Batiment d'Assemblage Final (BAF) building at the Kourou, French Guiana launch site. The assembly was then lowered on to Ar-501, which already had F3/F4 installed on its forward face.

Following the Ariane 501 launch failure on 4 June 1996, four replacement Cluster satellites are planned for launch in 2000 to study the interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetosphere. [Image Date: 1996/05] [97.12.007-004]