Tag: Russia
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Russia launches Soyuz rocket with Iranian satellite and CubeSats
At 05:52 UTC on August 9, a Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M rocket launched from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the Khayyam satellite for Iran and 16 CubeSats for various institutions and universities. The launch was originally scheduled for as early as the summer of 2021 but was delayed multiple times. The satellite, named “Khayyam” after…
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Russia launches potential inspector satellite on Soyuz-2.1v
Russia launched a Soyuz-2.1v rocket today at 20:25 UTC from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. The payload was the Kosmos-2558 satellite deployed into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). The payload is a satellite by the Russian Defense Ministry, with an unknown purpose. Kosmos is a generic filler name that is used for space assets of the…
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Russian military launches GLONASS-K navigation satellite from Plesetsk
The Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), itself a division of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, continued to build on their 2022 campaign with the successful launch of a GLONASS-K navigation satellite on a Soyuz rocket. The launch, which took place from Site 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia, occurred at approximately 09:18…
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Tensions mount between Russia and Europe over joint Spektr-RG telescope
The Russian scientific community is speaking out unanimously against the unauthorized activation of the German eROSITA telescope aboard the Russian Spektr-RG space observatory, as suggested by Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin. Spektr-RG, which stands for Spectrum + Röntgen + Gamma, the Russian-German high-energy astrophysics space observatory, was launched on 13 July 2019. It has two telescopes…
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Progress MS-20 docks to the International Space Station
A Soyuz 2.1a rocket has launched Progress MS-20 resupply spacecraft from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Progress MS-20 then conducted a fast-track, two-orbit rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) before docking to the aft port on the Zvezda service module at approximately 13:02 UTC (09:02 a.m. EDT). The mission is the…
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Russia launches first orbital Angara 1.2 rocket with military payload
Russia’s Angara 1.2 rocket has launched a payload for the Russian Aerospace Forces, the VKS RF. This is Angara 1.2’s first operational flight, after one suborbital test flight to verify that all systems worked and three test flights of the Angara-A5 variant to prove its ability to launch payloads to a geostationary orbit. Not much…
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Russia launches Meridian communications satellite to Molniya Orbit
Russia has launched the Meridian-M n°20L satellite onboard a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. The launch lifted off at 12:48:22 UTC bound for a very highly elliptical Molniya orbit of 900 x 39,000 km, with an inclination of 65°. This kind of orbit allows the satellite to remain over a certain…
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Progress MS-19 docks with the ISS
The Progress MS-19 spacecraft – on its 80th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) – docked early on Thursday. Progress MS-19, also known as Progress 80P, launched on a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on February 15 at 9:25 am Baikonur time, or 11:25 pm…
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Soyuz launches mysterious Neitron military payload
A Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia earlier this morning to deliver an unidentified Russian military satellite to orbit. The launch occurred on February 5 at 07:00 UTC, or 10:00 AM Moscow time. The satellite in question is likely called Neitron, a new type of military intelligence satellite. Notice to Airmen…
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Russia launches third and final Angara A5 demonstration mission
Russia has launched its third and final demonstration flight of the Angara A5 rocket on Monday, December 27. Angara is being developed and built by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and is intended to replace several existing launch vehicles. Angara attempted to place its 2,400 kg mass simulator in a near geostationary…