Antonov Airlines in cooperation with Bollore Logistics Space has transported civil telecommunication satellite on board one of its AN-124-100-150 aircraft from Toulouse, France, to Nasa Shuttle Landing Facility in Titusville, USA, to be launched by the US aerospace company SpaceX.

The cargo weighed a total of 50 tonnes including a special container measuring 14.69 m in length, 5.45 m in width, and 4.22 m in height, designed by Airbus Defence and Space specifically for moving safely these types of satellites to the allocated Space Center.

“As permanent users of this type of aircrafts, we are pleased to welcome the “Ruslan” on the market to perform the sensitive transports like the movement of the satellites to the different launch pads. The communication channel stayed always active in last months, and we were impressed by Antonov Airlines agility to maintain continuity of service after painful events occurred their home-base in Hostomel. We would like to thank Airbus Defence And Space for their renewed confidence in the competence of Bollore Logistics for moving their critical equipment in accordance with highest standard of security , said Yorann MARC, Projects Department Manager, Bollore Logistics.

“The expertise of the Antonov Airlines technical crew and engineers guarantees the smooth and efficient transport of this delicate and unique cargo,” said Sergii Bilozerov, Commercial Executive, Antonov Airlines.

“An external crane in conjunction with the onboard crane and winch of the AN-124-100-150 was used to load and unload the container CTH04, as well as special loading equipment designed and manufactured by Antonov’s in-house engineers.”