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by Andrea Bettini KOUROU (FRENCH GUYANA) 16 December 2019The commission that gives the go-ahead for the launches has given its approval: at 9.54 am Italian time a Soyuz launcher will turn on the engines in the European spaceport in Kourou, in French Guiana, to bring in orbit five satellites. Among these, two in particular are of great interest for Italy: a new element of the COSMO-SkyMed constellation of ASI and the Ministry of Defense and ESA's CHEOPS satellite, to which Italian researchers and industry have made a great contribution.

Last positive checks
The base on the South American coast is preparing for the last launch of 2019, the ninth of the year. "The latest controls on the launcher, on the payloads, on the weather forecasts and on the structures that will have to follow the departure have given positive results - says Francesco Longo, program manager of the Italian Space Agency - We are ready".

Second generation for COSMO-SkyMed
The new COSMO-SkyMed constellation satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space, will observe our planet with a level of detail greater than the four already operational, launched between 2007 and 2010. It will be the first step in the constellation renewal, whose applications range from environmental monitoring to security and defense activities. After the launch, the baton will pass to the Spatial Center of Fucino of Telespazio, in Abruzzo, from where the first delicate phases of positioning in orbit will be followed. Instead, the data will be received at the Basilicata Space Hub of Matera.

Mission to study exoplanets
CHEOPS on the other hand will look for valuable information on the planets that orbit distant stars. It is a mission on which ESA aims a great deal and which will allow scientists to understand what is the mass and composition of the most interesting exoplanets discovered so far, ie those apparently most similar to Earth. Also in this case the Italian contribution is considerable: in particular, with the support of ASI, Leonardo, Media Lario and Thales Alenia Space built the telescope. It is the eye with which CHEOPS will carry out its surveys and was designed by researchers from the INAF of Padua and Catania.

Launch following January
In Kourou, meanwhile, we are already working on the next mission. In an enormous building the preparation of an Ariane5 launcher more than 50 meters high is underway. In mid-January it will inaugurate the base 2020 by bringing two telecommunications satellites into space.