AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) carried the eROSITA X-ray telescope from Germany to Russia in preparation for the telescope’s launch onboard the ‘SRG’ spacecraft in 2018. The telescope is set to produce a new map of the universe in X-rays which will reveal how the largest cosmic structures evolve.

 

ABC’s involvement in the project began in 2016 when it was approached by DHL to support the transportation of the telescope in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany. Engineers from the Max Planck Institute were on hand to monitor the temperatureenvironment and to make the final preparations before the shipment was loaded onboard one of ABC’s Boeing 747 freighters for its journey to Moscow and the premises of the Russian aerospace company, Lavochkin Association.

 

Walter Morris, Sales Manager at AirBridgeCargo, said “We are very proud to have worked with DHL on this transportation project. Along with our parent company, Volga-Dnepr Group, we have extensive experience of delivering highly sensitive space cargoes such as satellites, and this expertise was certainly invaluable in demonstrating our credentials to the partners in this project. Once in space next year, eROSITA will completely enhance the way we view the universe.”