Solar Orbiter Processing: Propellant Loading Operations at Astro

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft is loaded with propellants during processing activities inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. Solar Orbiter aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind, and will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is managing the launch. Liftoff is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.