The European Space Agency shipped the Planck spacecraft to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, South America, for a launch on an Ariane 5 heavy lifter rocket April 16.
That Planck microwave observatory, which will study the relic radiation of the Big Bang, was shipped from Liege, Belgium.
It is to be launched along with the Herschel infrared observatory.
The spacecraft took off from Liege airport on board an Antonov cargo plane. This follows the earlier shipment of its sister spacecraft Herschel.
Before it was shipped, Planck successfully underwent a thorough test campaign at the Centre Spatial Liege. The spacecraft was subjected to environmental tests that simulated the conditions of space and tested its cooling system.