Arriving at the European Space Agency is exactly like arriving on the set of a Hollywood blockbuster.  You're greeted with a life-size replica of the Ariane 5, one of the three types of launchers that the local operator Ariane Espace, who facilitate the launches for ESA and other commercial customers, use in their launches.

 We were tight on time, so after negotiating our way through security, we speeded down the private roads of the Guyane Space Centre. The centre itself is enormous.  At 700km squared, it's about five times the size of Dublin city and is patrolled by French Legionnaires in boats, helicopters, armoured trucks and quads.  

We arrived just in time to see the Soyuz rocket leave the hangar for the launcher.  It is nothing short of epic to see this machine at close quarters, and it is incredible to think that it's is essentially the same piece of kit that launched Sputnik and a few years later, the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin.  The rocket as it stands now is in 3 stages (or parts); the boosters that surround the core, then the second stage and the third stage which separates above the orange section.   

The final stage, the faring, which contains the payload, won't be loaded until later today.    

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