Tag: Vostochny
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After Russian spaceport firm fails to pay bills, electric company turns the lights off
One of Russia’s most important projects over the last 15 years has been the construction of the Vostochny spaceport as the country seeks to fly its rockets from native soil and modernize its launch operations. However, the initiative has been a fiasco from the start. After construction began in 2011, the project was beset by…
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Roscosmos Ionosfera science mission launches atop Soyuz from Vostochny Cosmodrome
A Soyuz 2.1b rocket launched from Site 1S at Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia, carrying two Ionosfera-M satellites into a Sun-synchronous orbit. Launch took place on Friday, July 25, at 05:54 UTC and saw Soyuz fly on a northern trajectory over vast but sparsely populated territory. The Ionosfera-M no. 3 and no. 4 satellites are flying…
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Launch Roundup: Delta IV swan song, Angara test flight from Russia, and three Falcon 9 flights
The second week of April not only has a long-awaited total solar eclipse but also orbital launches from Russia and the United States. Besides the long-awaited NROL-70 Delta IV Heavy finale, there was a test flight of the Russian Angara rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia and a handful of Falcon 9 launches. Delta…
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Russia’s next-generation rocket is a decade old and still flying dummy payloads
By some measures, Russia’s next-generation flagship rocket program—the Angara—is now three decades old. The Russian government approved the development of the Angara rocket in 1992, soon after the fall of the Soviet Union ushered in a prolonged economic recession. It has been nearly 10 years since Russia launched the first Angara test flights. The heaviest…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX launches two Starlink missions; China launches Chang Zheng 5
A brand new week of spaceflight is approaching with SpaceX preparing to launch three Starlink missions, China getting ready to send two payloads to orbit, including one on the powerful Chang Zheng 5 (CZ-5) rocket, and Roscosmos preparing to launch Russian-built satellites to orbit atop Soyuz. Late on Feb. 22, Starlink Group 7-15 took 22…
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Soyuz 2.1a launches Kondor-FKA n°1 satellite from Vostochny
At 21:14 UTC on May 26, a Soyuz 2.1a rocket launched from Site 1S at Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia. Onboard the Soyuz was the Kondor-FKA n°1 satellite, which was lofted to a Sun-synchronous orbit. The Kondor satellites are a series of Earth observation satellites that provide reconnaissance services for the Russian military. Kondor Satellites The…
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Soyuz-2.1b launches Gonets trio and Skif demo satellite
Four Russian satellites have made their way into orbit, including an experimental mission that could compete with SpaceX’s Starlink internet constellation. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off from Site 1S at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia at 10:57 PM Moscow Time (19:57 UTC). Onboard were the Gonets-M No. 33, 34, and 35 satellites as well…
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OneWeb deployment reaches halfway point with Soyuz 2.1b launch
The initial deployment of OneWeb’s satellite broadband constellation reached its halfway stage on Thursday with the launch of 36 more spacecraft aboard a Russian Soyuz 2.1b rocket. Liftoff from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Eastern Russia occurred at 18:40 local time (09:40 UTC) on October 14. Thursday’s launch is the 11th in a series of flights…
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Seventh batch of OneWeb satellites launches from Vostochny
The seventh batch of OneWeb satellites were successfully launched on a Soyuz 2.1b rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia on Friday, May 28, with liftoff occurring at 17:38 UTC. After an initial attempt on Thursday, the launch was delayed to due to “technical reasons,” and a new launch target was made for Friday. In…
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OneWeb Flight 6 launches aboard Soyuz-2.1b from Vostochny
Arianespace has launched its second mission of the year on Sunday 25 April at 22:14 UTC from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East. The flight carried 36 more OneWeb satellites to Low Earth Orbit on board a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle, operated in partnership with Starsem and Roscosmos. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket made its 56th…