On Sunday May 10th the Ariane 5 ECA fairing was lowered over the Herschel spacecraft and the SYLDA, under which the Planck spacecraft sits, to be integrated finally with the launcher — both spacecraft are now ready for the launch scheduled for May 14th at 13:12 UTC.

Following the integration of the Herschel spacecraft on top of the SYLDA on April 30th, the main activity over the past week has been the filling and final topping up of the helium-II tank in the Herschel cryostat. On the morning of May 10th the required filling level of helium-II had been achieved, with the cryostat about 96 percent full and at a temperature just below 1.7 Kelvin. Prior to placing the 2.6 ton, 17m tall fairing over the Herschel and Planck spacecraft, the helium-II tank in the cryostat was closed, the helium filling equipment was disconnected, the spacecraft was powered down and the ground umbilical cables removed. The fairing was hoisted to the full height of the BAF assembly room and manoeuvred above the launcher (and above the two satellites). One of the final acts was to remove the protective foil covering the Herschel telescope before the fairing was lowered, encapsulating the two satellites, with Planck under the SYLDA, and mated finally with the launcher.