Service page - internal page navigation menu

Payload Processing and Integration

Customer spacecraft are processed in the specially constructed Payload Processing Facility—which includes equipment for the safe handling of spacecraft fuels. Here, the payload—typically a large telecommunications satellite bound for geostationary orbit—is loaded with fuels, encapsulated within a payload fairing and prepared for mating with the Sea Launch rocket.

Payload Processing Facility at Home Port

image: Integrated launch vehicle transfer

Integrated launch vehicle transfer from
Sea Launch Commander to Odyssey

Once it has been thoroughly checked out by customer technicians, the encapsulated payload is rolled out to the ACS and integrated with the launch vehicle. Vehicle and spacecraft segments are integrated with the launch vehicle in a horizontal orientation. The completed launch vehicle and its payload are then transferred by an onboard crane system from the ACS to the launch platform.

Telemetry Tracking

Throughout the countdown, special monitoring systems are measuring actual loading conditions on the spacecraft and on the rocket itself to insure that changes in the wind and sea do not cause excessive loads on the critical systems. Trending information allows time for the launch team to take corrective actions if large swells or wind gusts developed.

Sea Launch uses line of-sight radio frequency telemetry links at lift off and then depends on a combination of the NASA Telemetry and Data Relay Support Systems, or TDRSS, and INTELSAT. These communication satellites are linked to ground stations in the Western United States, Europe, Russia and Ukraine to provide sensor information about the launch vehicle and payload unit back to the Commander to track the progress of the mission.