Mobile gantry rollback

The Soyuz launch site is almost identical to the other Soyuz sites in Kazakhstan and Russia. The most visible difference is the 45 m-tall mobile gantry, which protects the satellites and the launcher from the humid tropical environment and provides access to the Soyuz at various levels for checkout activities. It is rolled back to its parked position, 80 m from the pad, about an hour before launch.

Soyuz VS03, the third Soyuz flight from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, will lift off on 12 October 2012. The rocket will carry two satellites of Europe’s Galileo navigation system into orbit.