18 September

2003: On 18 September 2003, the last preparations for ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft were made in Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, to make it ready for its launch the following week.

SMART-1's Solar Array protections were removed and the space capsule made ready for flight. It was then enclosed by a 2.6 metre 'raising cylinder' on which was placed the second spacecraft to be launched at the same time, E-Bird. The previous day, 17 September, SMART-1 had been placed on top of its Ariane 5 launcher.