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Integral space observatory launched by a Proton

The European Space Agency has launched Integral, a new observatory set to revolutionise the branch of astrophysics that seeks to unravel the secrets of the highest-energy - and therefore the most violent - phenomena in the Universe. This comes 20 years after the end of ESA's Cos-B mission, which produced a complete map of the sky in the high-energy gamma-ray waveband.

In the framework of ESA's cooperation with Russia, a Russian Proton launcher was chosen to place the Integral (INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) observatory in orbit. The launcher lifted off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on 17 October 2002 at 10:41 local time (06:41 CEST). After re-ignition of its upper stage, it placed Integral in its 72-hour elliptical orbit, ranging from only 10000 km up to 153000 km from the Earth, i.e. nearly half the distance to the Moon.

Controlled by ESA's ESOC mission operations centre in Darmstadt in Germany, the satellite will now undergo a two-months test period intended first to verify that the instruments onboard are working correctly and then that the data they collect is of good quality. Integral was developed by Italy's Alenia Spazio supported by over 30 firms in Europe. The satellite (mass 4 000 kg, height 5 metres) has two main instruments: the SPI spectrometer and IBIS imager. (Other info)

In the picture: Four stages Proton K/Block DM carrying Integral lifts off from Baikonur, October 17, 2002. (ESA)

(Aeromedia, October 2002)