Ukrainian airline delivered Turkish satellite for launch by American company
Antonov's An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft has transported a new Turkish telecommunications satellite Turksat 5B from Toulouse, France, to be launched by US aerospace company SpaceX. The transport was carried out in cooperation with the Bollore Logistics Space department in Toulouse. Ruslan is the only aircraft capable of transposing unique containers, since they were developed by Airbus Defense and Space specifically for transportation by AN-124-100 aircraft.
The total weight of the cargo was 60 tons, and its dimensions: length - 14.69 m, width - 5.45 m and height - 5.36 m were close to the dimensions of the aircraft's cargo compartment.
"The professionalism of the Antonov airline's technical team is a guarantee of safe and efficient transportation of this delicate and unique cargo," said Sergey Belozerov, specialist in the company's commercial department. “For loading and unloading, together with an onboard crane, an external crane was used, as well as other special equipment developed and manufactured by specialists of Antonov State Enterprise.