Cheops launch vehicle integration

The upper composite of the Soyuz that will lift ESA’s Cheops mission into space, along with the primary passenger, the Italian space agency’s Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation satellite, and three CubeSats: ESA’s OPS-SAT and the French space agency’s CNES's EYE-SAT and ANGELS satellites, is hoisted on top of the 3-stage rocket. Launch is scheduled for 17 December from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.