![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2016\/03\/teamwork2\/15912204-1-eng-GB\/Teamwork_small.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\nOn 14 March, the ESA\u2013Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), with the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator attached, lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe craft is on a seven-month journey to the Red Planet to address unsolved mysteries of the planet\u2019s atmosphere that could indicate present-day geological \u2013 or even biological \u2013 activity.\n<\/p>\n
\nSome 12 hours after launch, and after a very precise orbital delivery from the Russian Proton\u2013Breeze rocket, ground stations in Africa, Spain and Australia began receiving the spacecraft\u2019s initial signals, confirming that TGO was alive and well, and had started its automatic sequence, switching itself on, orienting its antenna towards Earth and deploying solar wings.\n<\/p>\n
\nAt ESOC, ESA\u2019s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, a \u2018team of teams\u2019 quickly went into action, applying the skills and expertise that had been learned and practised through months of intensive training.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe Flight Control Team quickly began checking out and verifying the spacecraft\u2019s complex systems, including the power, communications and guidance and navigation system.\n<\/p>\n
\nFlight Dynamics experts gathered data to pinpoint TGO\u2019s flight path in three dimensions with extreme accuracy.\n<\/p>\n
\nThese teams, supported by specialists in the areas of ground stations, mission control systems and networks, worked in tight coordination in round-the-clock shifts to ensure that the spacecraft was working as expected. European industry representatives were also on site, providing crucial expertise.\n<\/p>\n
\nBy Thursday evening, 17 March, the mission control team had declared the \u2018Launch and Early Orbit Phase\u2019 \u2013 one of the most critical periods in any mission\u2019s life \u2013 to be completed, and finished work in the Main Control Room, moving routine operations to a smaller room, where space and facilities will be shared with other interplanetary missions.\n<\/p>\n
\nTGO is performing flawlessly en route to Mars, and teams are now preparing for a busy commissioning phase (read more<\/a>).\n<\/p>\n \nIn this image, deputy spacecraft operations manager Silvia Sangiorgi is seen working intently in the Main Control Room on launch day.\n<\/p>\n \nMore information<\/b>\n<\/p>\n ESOC<\/a> \nOn 14 March, the ESA–Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), with the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator attached, lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.\n<\/p>\n \nThe craft is on a seven-month journey to the Red Planet to address unsolved mysteries of the planet’s atmosphere that could indicate present-day geological – or even biological – activity.\n<\/p>\n \nSome 12 hours after launch, and after a very precise orbital delivery from the Russian Proton–Breeze rocket, ground stations in Africa, Spain and Australia began receiving the spacecraft’s initial signals, confirming that TGO was alive and well, and had started its automatic sequence, switching itself on, orienting its antenna towards Earth and deploying solar wings.\n<\/p>\n \nAt ESOC, ESA’s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, a ‘team of teams’ quickly went into action, applying the skills and expertise that had been learned and practised through months of intensive training.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Flight Control Team quickly began checking out and verifying the spacecraft’s complex systems, including the power, communications and guidance and navigation system.\n<\/p>\n \nFlight Dynamics experts gathered data to pinpoint TGO’s flight path in three dimensions with extreme accuracy.\n<\/p>\n \nThese teams, supported by specialists in the areas of ground stations, mission control systems and networks, worked in tight coordination in round-the-clock shifts to ensure that the spacecraft was working as expected. European industry representatives were also on site, providing crucial expertise.\n<\/p>\n \nBy Thursday evening, 17 March, the mission control team had declared the ‘Launch and Early Orbit Phase’ – one of the most critical periods in any mission’s life – to be completed, and finished work in the Main Control Room, moving routine operations to a smaller room, where space and facilities will be shared with other interplanetary missions.\n<\/p>\n \nTGO is performing flawlessly en route to Mars, and teams are now preparing for a busy commissioning phase (read more<\/a>).\n<\/p>\n \nIn this image, deputy spacecraft operations manager Silvia Sangiorgi is seen working intently in the Main Control Room on launch day.\n<\/p>\n \nMore information<\/b>\n<\/p>\n ESOC<\/a>
\nExoMars operations<\/a>
esa.int\/exomars<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
ExoMars operations<\/a>
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