Ukrainian freighter Antonov Airlines has played a part in delivering a European critical satellite to its launch site in the city of Titusville, Florida, US.
Antonov Airlines worked in cooperation with CEVA Logistics to deliver the special cargo weighing 40 tonnes which started its journey from Cologne, Germany.
The freight container was loaded onto the Ukrainian operator’s biggest cargo aircraft, the AN-124-100M, using the back ramp and on-board cranes. The rest of the shipment’s containers were loaded into the aircraft via the front ramp.
The special spacecraft ‘Hera’, developed by the European Space Agency for its space safety programme, was safely delivered to the NASA shuttle launch and landing facility.
Speaking about the project, Alexander Rosenthal, aerospace special projects coordinator at CEVA Logistics, said: ““That was an outstanding and extraordinary experience. The satellite, being a highly sensitive cargo, must have been carried with extreme caution. Our team must have kept the relevant levels of temperatures, G-forces and other conditions during the flight for smooth delivery. We also had to control the appropriate satellite parameters on the ground in every airport on the route, constantly.”
Eugene Kiva, flight manager at Antonov Airlines, said: “Both the flight crew and technical team cooperation concluded into a successful mission. We are proud to be a part of this project, that may be one of the significant steps of discovering the universe and its secrets and getting life-saving knowledge for future generations.”
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