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 navy 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 house 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 predicted to be Russia’s ultimate 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 couple of minutes 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. A press release 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 methods aboard the spacecraft had been working usually, the protection ministry mentioned.
U.S. navy monitoring information indicated the satellite tv for pc was orbiting at an altitude of roughly almost 12,000 miles (greater than 19,000 kilometers), transferring round Earth on a observe 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 navy payloads.
Constructed by ISS Reshetnev, a satellite tv for pc producer primarily based in Zheleznogorsk, Russia, the Glonass M satellite tv for pc is starting a seven-year service life broadcasting L-band navigation alerts worldwide for the Russian navy and civilian customers. The Glonass program is Russia’s analog to the U.S. navy’s World Positioning System, offering exact place and time data to customers outfitted with receivers on the bottom.
With the launch of the newest Glonass satellite tv for pc, the system at present consists of 25 spacecraft, in line with a Russian authorities web site monitoring the navigation fleet’s operations. Twenty-two of the satellites are at present operational.
The launch of Glonass M No. 62 ends a collection of Glonass M navigation satellites as Russia strikes on to the newer Glonass Ok navigation satellite tv for pc design. The Glonass M satellites started launching in 2003, and Russia’s first new-generation Glonass Ok 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 an analogous flight profile because the Glonass mission two days earlier than, however the rocket didn’t carry a Fregat higher stage, that means the Soyuz third stage launched its navy payload into orbit about 10 minutes after liftoff.
Russian protection officers declared the mission a hit, and U.S. navy 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 observe angle, of 67.1 levels to the equator. The altitude and inclination match the orbital parameters of Russia’s fleet of Lotos S1 navy satellites, however Russian officers didn’t determine the payload on the Nov. 30 launch.
Russia’s navy named the brand new categorised spy satellite tv for pc Kosmos 2565.
For the reason that Nov. 30 launch, the spacecraft has adjusted its orbit to succeed in 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 navy contractor in Saint Petersburg, in partnership with TsSKB Progress. In line 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 navy intelligence community, working in tandem with Pion-NKS satellites able to gathering radar pictures of ships. The Lotos satellites host antennas to intercept radio alerts that can be utilized to seek out the positions of navy autos, together with naval vessels.
Russia’s Liana digital intelligence program is a successor to Russia’s Chilly Conflict-era Tselina, US-A, and US-P navy satellites. The primary Lotos take a look at satellite tv for pc launched in 2009, and 6 operational Lotos S1 satellites have launched since 2014.
The U.S. navy’s house monitoring staff catalogued not less than one further 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 counsel not less than one further thriller payload for Russia’s navy might have accompanied the Lotos S1 satellite tv for pc on the mission.
E-mail the creator.
Comply with Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.
