Tag: Soyuz
-
Russian space program facing challenges ahead of ambitious 2023
In the new year, Russia plans to launch its first probe to the Moon since 1976, debut a new member of the Soyuz rocket family, and launch the new Soyuz GVK resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). 2022 proved to be a slow year for the Russian launch cadence, with one Proton-M launch,…
-
Soyuz MS-22 suffers coolant leak, canceling Russian spacewalk
A planned spacewalk aboard the International Space Station on the evening of Dec. 14 involving cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin was canceled due to a coolant leak aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. The leak began around 7:45 PM EST on Dec. 14 (00:45 UTC on Dec. 15) when controllers in both Houston and Moscow…
-
Soyuz-2.1b launches from Plesetsk carrying Lotos-S satellite
A Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket was launched from Site 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Dec. 1 at 12:10 AM Moscow time (21:10 UTC on Nov. 30). Onboard was likely a Lotos-S electronic intelligence satellite for the Russian military. There is a possibility that additional payloads are to be deployed by the primary satellite later, based…
-
Soyuz-2.1b launches final GLONASS-M satellite from Plesetsk
At 15:17 UTC on Nov. 28, a Soyuz-2.1b launched from Site 43/3 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, carrying the final GLONASS-M satellite to orbit, designated Kosmos-2564. This is the first of two planned launches from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in just three days, with a classified payload scheduled to launch onboard a Soyuz-2.1a on Wednesday, Nov. 30.…
-
Russia launches Tundra missile warning satellite from Plesetsk
At 06:48 UTC on Nov. 2, Russia’s Soyuz-2.1b launched from Site 43/4 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome, carrying the sixth satellite of Russia’s next-generation early warning system. Upon reaching orbit, the spacecraft was designated as Kosmos-2563. The Tundra series of satellites, also known as Kupol or Edinaya Kosmicheskaya Sistema (EKS) satellites, is the next generation of Russian…
-
Progress MS-21 launches and docks to ISS on resupply mission
Roscosmos launched Progress MS-21 atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, at 8:20 PM EDT on Oct. 25 (00:20 UTC on Oct. 26). After launching from Site 31/6 in Baikonur, the Progress MS-21 spacecraft conducted a standard two-day autonomous rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS). This comes after the then-head of…
-
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…
-
Soyuz-2.1v launches satellite pair after multi-day delay
At 19:20 UTC on Oct. 21, Russia’s Soyuz-2.1v rocket launched from Site 43/4 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome, carrying a classified payload to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The mission was originally scheduled for launch on Oct. 18 but was delayed three days for unspecified reasons. On board Soyuz-2.1v was a pair of satellites named Kosmos-2561 and Kosmos-2562,…
-
Soyuz launches GLONASS navigation satellite from Plesetsk
Russia has added another satellite to its current satellite navigation network with the successful launch of a Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat rocket. Liftoff occurred at 5:52 AM Moscow Time (02:52 UTC) on Oct. 10 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the northwestern part of Russia carrying GLONASS-K1 No. 17. The GLONASS constellation of satellites is very similar to the…
-
Soyuz MS-21 lands on the Kazakh steppe to complete 195 day mission
The Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft, which launched three Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station on March 18 of this year, touched down in the Kazakh steppe. MS-21 landed outside of Dzhezkazgan on Thursday, Sept. 29, completing a 195-day mission in low Earth orbit. Soyuz MS-21 and Expedition 67 commander Oleg Artemyev, Flight Engineer 1 Denis…