ESA's new Envisat satellite is an advanced polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite which will be launched by Ariane 5 at the end of 2001. It carries a package of ten multi-disciplinary instruments to observe the Earth and its atmosphere form space in a synergistic fashion, offering unprecedented opportunities in environmental monitoring and operational Earth observation.
Prior to its launch Envisat had to go through a series of important tests in order to assess that everything will operate nominally on its journey to, and once in, orbit. Test deployments of Envisat's antenna and solar panels are an essential part in the preparation of Envisat before launch.
These rushes filmed in the cleanroom of Hydra at ESA's ESTEC site on 22 September 2000, includes the second lot of tests on the deployment mechanism of the satellites solar panels.

00:00:12 GVs inside Hydra cleanroom, incl Envisat on side, clock, lights, ceiling and engineers
00:03:25 Preparations of Envisat ready for batch cutting
00:06:06 Engineers are debriefed and given stopwatches to time batch cutting
00:10:50 Timing of first batch cutting test
00:11:53 Recording of times after test
00:14:46 Springing out of a batch cutting element
00:15:02 CUs of batch cutting elements
00:17;32 Springing out of a different batch cutting element
00:17:53 More CUs of batch cutting elements
00:18:20 Recording more times from tests
00:19:52 Springing out of another batch cutting element
00:20:46 Start of another batch cutting test, solar panels more forward and test is discussed
00:23:33 Zoom in to cut bindings that held solar panels in place
00:24:31 Inspection after first part of solar array mini deployment
00:25:18 Preparations for next part of test
00:27:44 END