RVSN, Kosmotras to carry out cluster launch of eight payloads.

MOSCOW, August 17 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's carrier rocket Dnepr with
eight payloads on Wednesday will be launched from the Yasny launch base in
the Orenburg region.
The International Space Company Kosmotras, which is engaged in
marketing the Dnepr rockets on the launch services market told Itar-Tass
that the "launch of the Dnepr carrier rocket is scheduled for 11:12 Moscow
time." "As the payloads the rocket will orbit the Sich-2 remote sensing
satellite and BPA-2 block of prospective avionics (Ukraine), the
AprizeSat-5 and AprizeSat-6 relay satellites (USA), the NigeriaSat-2 and
NigeriaSat-X remote Earth sensing satellites (Nigeria), the RASAT remote
sensing satellite (Turkey) and the EDUSAT scientific and educational
satellite (Italy)," Komsotras specified.
The Dnepr conversion carrier rocket was created based on the world's
most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) RS-20 (according
to Western classification - the SS-18 Satan). The three-stage liquid
propelled rocket is designed for taking in orbits with altitudes of 300 to
900 km of payload with the mass of up to 3.7 tonnes. The takeoff mass -
260 tonnes. The rocket is "mortar launched." First, the cartridge pressure
accumulators push the rocket from silos, then the propulsion system of the
first stage is activated in the air.
The Dnepr rocket is marketed on the launch services market by
Kosmotras that represents businesses and organisations of Russia and
Ukraine that created the RS-20 ICBM. To date, 15 successful launches of
the Satan that has become partly peaceful have been carried out with the
participation of Kosmotras, more than 50 satellites have been orbited. The
Dnepr rockets were blasted off a total of 16 times.
The Dnepr launches can be carried out from the Baikonur launch complex
that consists of three silo launchers. One launching silo of the Yasny
command of the Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN) in the Orenburg region is
also equipped for commercial launches.
International Space Company (ISC) Kosmotras (a Joint Stock Company)
was established in 1997 under the Russian law. The company's head office
is located in Moscow, Russia. Primary area of ISC Kosmotras business
operations is linked to implementation of the Russian Program for
Elimination of the SS-18 Inter-continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) that
are being withdrawn from service and used in the Dnepr Space Launch System
(SLS) for commercial orbital launches of payloads, it is said on the
company website.
ISC Kosmotras shareholders are a team of leading scientific research
and manufacturing entities of Russia and Ukraine that built the Dnepr SLS
and today exercise the follow-on oversight of its operation. Since the
first Dnepr launch in April 1999, ISC Kosmotras has been actively present
on the world launch services market. To date, 15 orbital flights were
performed and the total number of payloads launched amounted to 55. The
launch service customers were space agencies and commercial companies from
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UK, USA, Thailand and other
countries. Russian and Ukrainian governments have recognised the ISC
Kosmotras achievements by awarding the state prizes in the sphere of
science and engineering to the top managers and key experts of the Dnepr
Program.
The Dnepr rocket is a space launch vehicle named after the Dnieper
River. It is a converted ICBM used for launching artificial satellites
into orbit, operated by launch service provider ISC Kosmotras. The first
launch, on April 21, 1999, successfully placed UoSAT-12, a 350 kg
demonstration mini-satellite, into a 650 km circular Low Earth orbit. The
Dnepr is based on the R-36MUTTH ICBM - called the SS-18 Satan by NATO -
designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Its
control system developed and produced by the JSC Khartron, Kharkov. The
Dnepr is three-stage rocket using storable hypergolic liquid propellants.
The launch vehicles used for satellite launches are withdrawn from service
with the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces and stored for commercial use. A
group of 150 ICBMs can be converted for use and are available until 2020.
The Dnepr can be launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and a newly created
Cosmodrome at the Dombarovsky launch base, near Yasny, in the Orenburg
region of Russia.
The Dnepr launch vehicle has only a small number of modifications
compared to the R-36M ICBM in service. The main difference is the payload
adapter located in the space head module and modified flight-control unit.
This baseline version can lift 3,600 kg into a 300 km low earth orbit at
an inclination of 50.6°, or 2,300 kg to a 300 km sun-synchronous orbit at
an inclination of 98.0°. On a typical mission the Dnepr deploys a larger
main payload and a secondary payload of Miniaturized satellites and
CubeSats. A number of Space Tugs are under development which will be
placed inside the space head module, thereby sacrificing volume and
payload but enabling orbits requiring more energy, including planetary
escape orbits.
RVSN RF are an arm of service (Rod) of the Russian Military that
controls Russia's land-based ICBMs. The RVSN was first formed in the
Soviet Armed Forces, and when the USSR collapsed in 1990-1991, it
effectively changed its name from the Soviet to the Russian Strategic
Rocket Forces.