ID :
13999
Sun, 07/27/2008 - 13:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/13999
The shortlink copeid
Modernized booster Soyuz-2 puts on orbit military satellite
PLESETSK (Arkhangelsk region), July 27 (Itar-Tass) -- A modernizedcarrier rocket Soyuz-2, which was launched from Russia's northern Plesetsk spaceport for the first time on Saturday, put successfully a military satellite on the circumterrestrial orbit, spokesman for the Russian Space Troops Lieutenant-Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin told Itar-Tass on Saturday.
The carrier rocket Soyuz-2 was launched at 22.31 Moscow time on Saturday.
"The satellite separated successfully from the carrier rocket at 22.41 Moscow time and began an independent flight. The separation took place outside the radio coverage zone from the territory of Russia, therefore the signal came only now. The satellite was numbered Kosmos-2441.
The command and measurement complex put the satellite under control at 00.07 Moscow time on Sunday," the spokesman said.
The Samara-based design bureau TsSKB-Progress has designed the carrier rocket Soyuz-2 under the order placed by the Defense Ministry and the Federal Space Agency.
TsSKB-Progress Director General Alexander Kirilin called the launch "a serious achievement of the military industry." He noted that "the booster Soyuz-2 is equipped with a new engine." According to him, "The satellite has five years of service life on the orbit." "The functional capabilities of this spacecraft are very high," Kirilin told reporters on Saturday.
"The satellite will operate in the distant probing regime," the director general said.
The launch vehicle Soyuz-2 developed in 1a and 1b phases is passing the flight tests from the spaceports in Plesetsk and Baikonur. The major difference between the Soyuz-2-1a and the Soyuz-2-1b is that a new engine RD-0124 developed by the Voronezh-based design bureau Khimavtomatika is applied in the third stage of the Soyuz-2-1b. One of the Soyuz-2 counterparts will launch payloads from the Kourou spaceport.
The launch weight of the Soyuz-2 booster is 311.7 tons, and it can put on the support orbit a payload of 7,480 kilograms. The rocket fuel consists of liquid oxygen and kerosene. The modernized launch vehicle Soyuz-2-1a can put 300 kilograms more than the Soyuz on a200-kilometer-high orbit, and the Soyuz-2-1b - 1,200 kilograms more. The Soyuz-2 has a new digital control system, which was developed under modern parameters for the control system and with new Russian hardware components.
Up to now during the flight trials the Soyuz-2-1a was launched thrice: twice from the Plesetsk spaceport and once from the Baikonur spaceport.
The Soyuz-2-1b was launched once from the Baikonur spaceport. All launches were successful. The Soyuz-2 was launched for the first time from the Plesetsk spaceport on November 8, 2004.
The Soyuz-2 carrier rocket may be put into service for the RussianSpace Troops at the Plesetsk spaceport already this year. On January 25, 2008, the then commander of the Space Troops Colonel-General Vladimir Popovkin said, "During the flight trials the Space Troops should make five launches." "Two launches have already been made, in 2008 we will continue the flight trials and will make two launches from the Plesetsk spaceport.
We may put into service this carrier rocket already this year taking into account launches of the rocket from the Baikonur spaceport," Popovkin said.
The launch of the Soyuz-2 booster was initially scheduled on Friday, July 25. However, the launch was postponed for a day. "Due to additional software checkups of the Soyuz-2 control system the state committee for flight trials headed by Commander of the Space Troops Major-General Oleg Ostapenko decided to delay the launch for a day," the spokesman of the Space Troops said.
The carrier rocket Soyuz-2 was launched at 22.31 Moscow time on Saturday.
"The satellite separated successfully from the carrier rocket at 22.41 Moscow time and began an independent flight. The separation took place outside the radio coverage zone from the territory of Russia, therefore the signal came only now. The satellite was numbered Kosmos-2441.
The command and measurement complex put the satellite under control at 00.07 Moscow time on Sunday," the spokesman said.
The Samara-based design bureau TsSKB-Progress has designed the carrier rocket Soyuz-2 under the order placed by the Defense Ministry and the Federal Space Agency.
TsSKB-Progress Director General Alexander Kirilin called the launch "a serious achievement of the military industry." He noted that "the booster Soyuz-2 is equipped with a new engine." According to him, "The satellite has five years of service life on the orbit." "The functional capabilities of this spacecraft are very high," Kirilin told reporters on Saturday.
"The satellite will operate in the distant probing regime," the director general said.
The launch vehicle Soyuz-2 developed in 1a and 1b phases is passing the flight tests from the spaceports in Plesetsk and Baikonur. The major difference between the Soyuz-2-1a and the Soyuz-2-1b is that a new engine RD-0124 developed by the Voronezh-based design bureau Khimavtomatika is applied in the third stage of the Soyuz-2-1b. One of the Soyuz-2 counterparts will launch payloads from the Kourou spaceport.
The launch weight of the Soyuz-2 booster is 311.7 tons, and it can put on the support orbit a payload of 7,480 kilograms. The rocket fuel consists of liquid oxygen and kerosene. The modernized launch vehicle Soyuz-2-1a can put 300 kilograms more than the Soyuz on a200-kilometer-high orbit, and the Soyuz-2-1b - 1,200 kilograms more. The Soyuz-2 has a new digital control system, which was developed under modern parameters for the control system and with new Russian hardware components.
Up to now during the flight trials the Soyuz-2-1a was launched thrice: twice from the Plesetsk spaceport and once from the Baikonur spaceport.
The Soyuz-2-1b was launched once from the Baikonur spaceport. All launches were successful. The Soyuz-2 was launched for the first time from the Plesetsk spaceport on November 8, 2004.
The Soyuz-2 carrier rocket may be put into service for the RussianSpace Troops at the Plesetsk spaceport already this year. On January 25, 2008, the then commander of the Space Troops Colonel-General Vladimir Popovkin said, "During the flight trials the Space Troops should make five launches." "Two launches have already been made, in 2008 we will continue the flight trials and will make two launches from the Plesetsk spaceport.
We may put into service this carrier rocket already this year taking into account launches of the rocket from the Baikonur spaceport," Popovkin said.
The launch of the Soyuz-2 booster was initially scheduled on Friday, July 25. However, the launch was postponed for a day. "Due to additional software checkups of the Soyuz-2 control system the state committee for flight trials headed by Commander of the Space Troops Major-General Oleg Ostapenko decided to delay the launch for a day," the spokesman of the Space Troops said.
