BAIKONUR. May 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The Soyuz-2 launch vehicle carrying the European MetOp-A weather satellite is to be launched from the Baikonur Space Center on July 17.
A center spokesman told Interfax on Wednesday that European experts had finished checking the satellite and were assessing the readiness of the spacecraft.
In addition to that, Baikonur continues preparations for the launch of the Soyuz-U launch vehicle, expected to orbit the Resurs-DK Earth remote probing satellite on June 15.
"The satellite has undergone air-vacuum tests, and is being prepared for transportation to the filling station," the spokesman said.
He noted that the satellite would be transported to the filling station overnight. The Resurs-DK spacecraft will be filled with fuel components on Thursday-Friday.
After that Resurs-DK will return to the workstation to be equipped with solar batteries and undergo final checks before the final stage of the spacecraft is set in place, the spokesman said.