The European Space Agency's Planck satellite, launched on 14 May 2009, is the third-generation space experiment in the field of cosmic microwave background (CMB) research. It will image the anisotropies of the CMB over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity ( ΔT T ∼ 2 × 10 −6 ) and angular resolution (∼5 arcmin). Planck will provide a major source of information relevant to many fundamental cosmological problems and will test current theories of the early evolution of the Universe and the origin of structure. It will also address a wide range of areas of astrophysical research related to the Milky Way as well as external galaxies and clusters of galaxies. The ability of Planck to measure polarization across a wide frequency range (30−350 GHz), with high precision and accuracy, and over the whole sky, will provide unique insight, not only into specific cosmological questions, but also into the properties of the interstellar medium. This paper is part of a series which describes the technical capabilities of the Planck scientific payload. It is based on the knowledge gathered during the on-ground calibration campaigns of the major subsystems, principally its telescope and its two scientific instruments, and of tests at fully integrated satellite level. It represents the best estimate before launch of the technical performance that the satellite and its payload will achieve in flight. In this paper, we summarise the main elements of the payload performance, which is described in detail in the accompanying papers. In addition, we describe the satellite performance elements which are most relevant for science, and provide an overview of the plans for scientific operations and data analysis.

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Launcher tracking support implies vehicle telemetry reception and distribution and is indispensable for flight safety and accurate spacecraft separation. Technical and operational challenges are the uncertainty of launcher trajectory dispersion for acquisition, the high speed pointing target of the launcher, 1 Mb/s telemetry data rate, diversity operations on two different frequencies, synchronous telemetry data reception, real-time telemetry processing and distribution. ESA's Tracking Station Network was up-graded to support with dedicated stations the tracking of Ariane-5 and potentially, future European launchers (Soyuz, Vega). Therefore, a new station on the Island of Santa Maria, Azores, Portugal was developed for Ariane-5 mission support and an existing ESA 15m antenna in Perth, West Australia was up-graded even to feature launcher tracking and satellite first acquisition simultaneously. Nomenclature ACU= Antenna Control Unit AOS = Acquisition of Signal ATV = Automated Transfer Vehicle CSG = Centre Spatial Guyanais CNES = Centre National d'Études Spatiales CVI = Control Visuel Immédiat DO = Désignation d`Objectif ESA = European Space Agency ESOC = European Space Operations Centre ESTRACK= ESA Tracking Station Network FEC = Front-End Controller GTO = Geostationary Transfer Orbit HDLC = High-Level Data Link Control ISDN = Integrated Services Digital Network Mb/s = Megabit per second SAR = Synthetic Aperture Radar SSO = Sun-Synchronous Orbit TOV = Time Offset Value TM = Telemetry UTC = Universal Time Coordinated 1 Senior Ground Station Operations Engineer,

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