Upper composite of Soyuz (enclosing Cheops)

The upper composite of the Soyuz launcher that will lift ESA’s Cheops satellite into space is lifted to be installed on a special trailer and moved to the launch pad. Launch is scheduled for 17 December from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

All passengers – the Italian space agency’s Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation satellite, Cheops, and three CubeSats: ESA’s OPS-SAT and the French space agency’s CNES's EYE-SAT and ANGELS satellites – are encapsulated in the fairing and the composite is ready for integration with the 3-stage launcher. The fairing sticker includes, among others, the ESA and Cheops mission logos and the winning design of the Cheops fairing sticker competition, on the left, created by Denis Vrenko.

More about Cheops