The Afternoon Constellation (also known as the "A-Train") is composed of several satellites that fly close together in the same orbit in order to provide the science community with opportunities for nearly coincident observations of the atmosphere, land, or ocean from a variety of instruments. Initially, it was composed of the Aqua, Aura, and PARASOL satellites. In April 2006, the CALIPSO and CloudSat satellites were launched, expanding the science observing capabilities. This paper describes the challenges that had to be overcome to safely place both satellites into the A-Train. These include the pre-launch agreements on constellation processes and procedures, the formal reviews conducted for each mission's ascent plans, and the simulations of the coordinated ascent plan. The paper also provides a brief description of the tools developed to monitor the constellation configuration and the lessons learned.
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