The Intelsat New Dawn satellite is now in launch configuration. The only only exception that it is getting a power source from the ground through the launch vehicle umbilical harness. At 13 minutes before the scheduled lift-off (6:32pm local Kourou time), the power will switch from ground to satellite battery. At that time the satellite will be totally autonomous and ready for launch. At seven minutes before launch (6:38pm), the launch vehicle will switch to "Synchronized Sequence". At that point, all actions are performed automatically by the launch vehicle with no ground intervention. If there is a hold ("red") during the synchronized sequence (the last seven minutes), the countdown will be stopped. Once the technical team understands the reason for the hold, it might authorize the synchronized sequence to restart. It will not pick up from where the hold occurred, but will go back to H0-7 minutes.
Contributor: Jean-Luc Froeliger, Senior Director, Space System Acquisition
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