[Satellite Today 02-20-09] Thales Alenia Space has delivered the Herschel and Planck scientific satellites to the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, the company announced Feb. 19.
    The two European Space Agency (ESA) satellites are scheduled to be launched by Arianespace in April.
    The Herschel satellite features a telescope operating in the far infrared band, and according to Thales Alenia Space, will be the first satellite to observe the universe in the sub-millimetric part of the spectrum. The Planck satellite is dedicated to the study of cosmic background noise, meaning the “fossil” radiation of the very first light in the universe, emitted some 380,000 years after the Big Bang, or more than 13 billion years ago.