Russia launched two Soyuz rockets Nov. 28 and Nov. 30 from the nation’s northern cosmodrome, hauling a Glonass navigation satellite tv for pc and a army spy satellite tv for pc into orbit.
The 2 launches from neighboring launch pads on the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Moscow, marked Russia’s twenty first and twenty second area missions of the 12 months.
A Soyuz-2.1b rocket took off at 10:17 a.m. EST (1517 GMT) on Nov. 28 with what is anticipated to be Russia’s remaining Glonass M navigation satellite tv for pc because the Glonass community transitions to a brand new era of modernized spacecraft with longer lifetimes and extra navigation channels.
The Soyuz rocket headed east from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, the place liftoff occurred at 8:17 p.m. native time, dropping its 4 kerosene-fueled boosters, core stage and payload fairing within the first jiffy of the flight. The Soyuz rocket’s third stage, powered by an RD-0124 engine, shut down round 9 minutes after liftoff and launched a Fregat higher stage for 2 extra burns to information the Glonass M navigation satellite tv for pc into its deliberate high-altitude perch.
The Fregat stage deployed the Glonass M satellite tv for pc, designated No. 61 within the Glonass M collection, round three-and-a-half hours into the mission. An announcement issued by the Russian Ministry of Protection mentioned the rocket launched its payload into the focused orbit, and floor controllers established contact with the Glonass-M satellite tv for pc.
All techniques aboard the spacecraft have been working usually, the protection ministry mentioned.
U.S. army monitoring information indicated the satellite tv for pc was orbiting at an altitude of roughly practically 12,000 miles (greater than 19,000 kilometers), transferring round Earth on a monitor tilted 64.8 levels to the equator, the identical kind of orbit utilized by the remainder of the Glonass fleet.
The Russian protection ministry renamed the satellite tv for pc Kosmos 2564 after the launch, maintaining with the naming conference for the nation’s army payloads.
Constructed by ISS Reshetnev, a satellite tv for pc producer based mostly in Zheleznogorsk, Russia, the Glonass M satellite tv for pc is starting a seven-year service life broadcasting L-band navigation indicators worldwide for the Russian army and civilian customers. The Glonass program is Russia’s analog to the U.S. army’s International Positioning System, offering exact place and time data to customers geared up with receivers on the bottom.
With the launch of the most recent Glonass satellite tv for pc, the system presently consists of 25 spacecraft, in keeping with a Russian authorities web site monitoring the navigation fleet’s operations. Twenty-two of the satellites are presently operational.
The launch of Glonass M No. 62 ends a collection of Glonass M navigation satellites as Russia strikes on to the newer Glonass Okay navigation satellite tv for pc design. The Glonass M satellites started launching in 2003, and Russia’s first new-generation Glonass Okay satellite tv for pc launched in 2011.
Two days after the Glonass M mission lifted off from Plesetsk, one other Soyuz-2.1b rocket fired off a close-by launch at round 4:10 p.m. EST (2110 GMT) on Nov. 30. The Soyuz launcher adopted the same flight profile because the Glonass mission two days earlier than, however the rocket didn’t carry a Fregat higher stage, which means the Soyuz third stage launched its army payload into orbit about 10 minutes after liftoff.
Russian protection officers declared the mission successful, and U.S. army radars detected the satellite tv for pc in an orbit between 148 miles and 559 miles (239-by-900 kilometers).
The orbit has an inclination, or floor monitor angle, of 67.1 levels to the equator. The altitude and inclination match the orbital parameters of Russia’s fleet of Lotos S1 army satellites, however Russian officers didn’t establish the payload on the Nov. 30 launch.
Russia’s army named the brand new labeled spy satellite tv for pc Kosmos 2565.
For the reason that Nov. 30 launch, the spacecraft has adjusted its orbit to achieve a round path about 560 miles above Earth. The post-launch maneuver can also be typical of Lotos S1 satellites.
The Lotos S1 satellites are constructed by KB Arsenal, a Russian army contractor in Saint Petersburg, in partnership with TsSKB Progress. In keeping with the producer, the Lotos S1 satellites weigh round 13,000 kilos (6,000 kilograms) absolutely fueled at launch.
The Lotos satellites are a part of Russia’s Liana army intelligence community, working in tandem with Pion-NKS satellites able to accumulating radar pictures of ships. The Lotos satellites host antennas to intercept radio indicators that can be utilized to seek out the positions of army autos, together with naval vessels.
Russia’s Liana digital intelligence program is a successor to Russia’s Chilly Battle-era Tselina, US-A, and US-P army satellites. The primary Lotos check satellite tv for pc launched in 2009, and 6 operational Lotos S1 satellites have launched since 2014.
The U.S. army’s area monitoring workforce catalogued not less than one extra object in orbit from the Nov. 30 launch, apart from the presumed Lotos S1 satellite tv for pc and the Soyuz third stage. The orbital information recommend not less than one extra thriller payload for Russia’s army could have accompanied the Lotos S1 satellite tv for pc on the mission.
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