Klaus Koeble, head of EADS Astrium's TerraSAR-X launch team on site in Baikonur, regularly reports the current status of activities from Baikonur:

The large part of the team that will prepare the new German radar satellite TerraSAR-X for launch has arrived at the launch site in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, March 8th.

After taking the obligatory "group picture with spacecraft", the highly motivated team has booted the satellite and begun thorough testing procedures - so far, without encountering any problems or surprises.

After a day off work on Thursday - Women's Day being a national holiday in Russia - the team expects to complete the first set of tests on Friday.

Teams of EADS Astrium and the German Aerospace Center now need to conduct four to six weeks of further preparations before the satellite's launch, which is envisaged to take place by mid April.