Delta G @ COMPASS: prospects for the 2002 run

The COMPASS experiment at the CERN SPS enters production data taking in 2002. The first production runs will concentrate on the nucleon structure aspect of the experiment's physics program, using a high energy polarised muon beam scattered off a polarised deuteron target, and particularly on its main goal in this respect: the determination of the gluon polarisation in the nucleon, Delta G. In the initial phase the measurement will be conducted on a partial setup with reduced acceptance. The development status of the experimental apparatus is presented. The projected precision on Delta G/G expected from the 2002 run is discussed, using as a test case the most promising channel for the determination of Delta G, viz. the cross section asymmetry for polarised open-charm muoproduction. (9 refs).