ID :
180085
Thu, 05/05/2011 - 08:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/180085
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Soyuz-2 carrier rocket puts in orbit Meridian spacecraft
MOSCOW, May 5 (Itar-Tass) - The Soyuz-2 carrier rocket that was
launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome has successfully placed into the
target orbit the Meridian spacecraft for the RF Defence Ministry.
Spokesman for the Space Forces Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin told
Itar-Tass that "at 21:50 MSK the Fregat upper stage with the Meridian
spacecraft successfully separated from the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket of the
1a modernisation stage and at the designated time - 23:59 MSK (May 4) -
placed the spacecraft into orbit."
"After the separation the spacecraft was taken under control of the
systems of the Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre,"
Zolotukhin said. "Stable communication was established and is maintained
with it. Onboard satellite systems are functioning normally."
The Soyuz-2 three-stage middle-class liquid-propelled carrier rocket
of the 1a modernisation phase was designed and manufactured at the
Samara-based Progress State Research and Production Space Centre (also
known as TsSKB-Progress), and the Fregat upper stage - at NPO Lavochkin
Research and Production Association.
The Souiz-2 rocket's lift-off mass is 311.7 tonnes, it can place a
payload of 7,480 kilograms into the support orbit. The propellants are
liquid oxygen and kerosene. The carrier rocket, in comparison with the
standard Soyuz, ensures higher payloads mass placement into a low orbit of
200 km at phase 1a - by 300 kg, at the 1b phase - by 1,200 kg, as well as
higher accuracy of orbiting spacecraft. The rocket's modernisation focused
on the creation of a fundamentally different digital control system, which
is based on modern control principles and new domestic hardware components.
According to open press, Meridian is a series of dual-use spacecraft,
designed, in particular, to ensure communication of sea vessels and ice
reconnaissance aircraft in the Northern Sea Route area by onshore
stations, the expansion of the satellite communications network in the
north of Siberia and the Far East. The Meridian spacecraft constellation
designed and produced by the Krasnoyarsk-based Reshetnev Information
Satellite Systems is being deployed to replace the three different
communications systems - Molniya-3 Molniya-1 and Parus.
The first spacecraft of this series was launched on December 24, 2006
and orbited by the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket and Fregat upper stage. The
launch of the second spacecraft was carried out on May 22, 2009. The
launch was partially successful, because due to a malfunction of Fregat
the satellite was not placed into the target orbit. The third satellite of
this series was successfully orbited on November 2, 2010.
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launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome has successfully placed into the
target orbit the Meridian spacecraft for the RF Defence Ministry.
Spokesman for the Space Forces Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin told
Itar-Tass that "at 21:50 MSK the Fregat upper stage with the Meridian
spacecraft successfully separated from the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket of the
1a modernisation stage and at the designated time - 23:59 MSK (May 4) -
placed the spacecraft into orbit."
"After the separation the spacecraft was taken under control of the
systems of the Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre,"
Zolotukhin said. "Stable communication was established and is maintained
with it. Onboard satellite systems are functioning normally."
The Soyuz-2 three-stage middle-class liquid-propelled carrier rocket
of the 1a modernisation phase was designed and manufactured at the
Samara-based Progress State Research and Production Space Centre (also
known as TsSKB-Progress), and the Fregat upper stage - at NPO Lavochkin
Research and Production Association.
The Souiz-2 rocket's lift-off mass is 311.7 tonnes, it can place a
payload of 7,480 kilograms into the support orbit. The propellants are
liquid oxygen and kerosene. The carrier rocket, in comparison with the
standard Soyuz, ensures higher payloads mass placement into a low orbit of
200 km at phase 1a - by 300 kg, at the 1b phase - by 1,200 kg, as well as
higher accuracy of orbiting spacecraft. The rocket's modernisation focused
on the creation of a fundamentally different digital control system, which
is based on modern control principles and new domestic hardware components.
According to open press, Meridian is a series of dual-use spacecraft,
designed, in particular, to ensure communication of sea vessels and ice
reconnaissance aircraft in the Northern Sea Route area by onshore
stations, the expansion of the satellite communications network in the
north of Siberia and the Far East. The Meridian spacecraft constellation
designed and produced by the Krasnoyarsk-based Reshetnev Information
Satellite Systems is being deployed to replace the three different
communications systems - Molniya-3 Molniya-1 and Parus.
The first spacecraft of this series was launched on December 24, 2006
and orbited by the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket and Fregat upper stage. The
launch of the second spacecraft was carried out on May 22, 2009. The
launch was partially successful, because due to a malfunction of Fregat
the satellite was not placed into the target orbit. The third satellite of
this series was successfully orbited on November 2, 2010.
-0-
