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ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2017

This Soyuz VS16 rocket carried the Hispasat 36W-1 satellite into Earth orbit late last month. It is the first satellite to use the SmallGEO platform.

SmallGEO is a multipurpose satellite platform capable of accommodating a wide range of commercial telecommunications payloads and missions, from TV broadcasting to multimedia applications, internet access and mobile or fixed services in a wide range of frequency bands.

In this image, the Soyuz VS16 was hoisted into a vertical position, four days before lift-off.

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