{"id":37282,"date":"2020-12-02T21:40:08","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T13:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/soyuz-2s-110th-mission-launches-three-civilian-communication-satellites\/"},"modified":"2020-12-02T21:40:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T13:40:08","slug":"soyuz-2s-110th-mission-launches-three-civilian-communication-satellites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/soyuz-2s-110th-mission-launches-three-civilian-communication-satellites\/","title":{"rendered":"Soyuz 2\u2019s 110th mission launches three civilian communication satellites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Russian Aerospace Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a mission to deliver three Gonets-M communications satellites into a 1,400 km near-polar orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The flight, launched on a Soyuz 2.1b rocket with a Fregat upper stage, lifted off at 01:14:36 UTC on Thursday, 3 December (20:14:36 EST on Wednesday, 2 December) from Site No. 43\/3 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northeastern Russia.<\/p>\n<p>The mission is the second flight of Gonets-M satellites on a Soyuz 2.1b rocket, which will use a Fregat upper stage to provide the needed lift capacity into the satellites\u2019 operational orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The three Gonets-M communication satellites are part of the second generation of the Gonets system.&nbsp; Earlier versions were derived from the Strela-3 line of military communications satellites and launched between 1992 and 2001.<\/p>\n<p>The military to civilian nature of the Gonets-M series requires authorization from the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation to permit the Russian Ministry of Defense to launch the crafts.<\/p>\n<p>All Gonets-M satellites have a launch mass of approximately 280 kg, are designed to operate for five to seven years, are capable of data transmission rates of 2.4 to 64 kbit\/s, and can be used for store-and-dump communications with transmitter power between 8-10 W.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 771px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1331119370324627458&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasaspaceflight.com%2F2020%2F12%2Fsoyuz-2s-110th-mission-satellites%2F&amp;sessionId=0aaf062331fdbee8b6cf599c409f4b8d509329be&amp;siteScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\" data-tweet-id=\"1331119370324627458\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The three satellites launched on this mission have serial numbers 30, 31 and 32 and will operate from a planned 1,400 km orbit inclined 82.5 degrees to the equator.&nbsp; Previous media reports from Russia indicated this mission would have rideshare payloads as well.<\/p>\n<p>Space tourism guides<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Aerospace industry analysis<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>NASA mission updates<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p>The smaller payloads would essentially hitch a ride with the Gonets-M satellites and have to go to fairly similar orbits given the primary mission\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n<p>Those payloads \u2014 as of publication \u2014 are understood to include four university nanosatellites under the Multi-SAT-SG project.<\/p>\n<p>For the primary payload, the Gonets-M satellites were removed from storage in September to undergo electrical and functional checkouts before shipping to Plesetsk in early October 2020 for launch.<\/p>\n<p>At that point, launch was set for 24 November.&nbsp; But on 21 November, while in final preparations for rollout to the launch pad, technicians discovered an issue with the rocket, necessitating the removal and replacement of systems.<\/p>\n<p>As reported by RussianSpaceWeb, that issue is now understood to have been with a fuel level sensor communications channel on the Blok-A core stage and one of the four side-mounted boosters.<\/p>\n<p>Ten days were needed to replace the malfunctioning part of the system, and the launch was re-set for 3 December at 01:14:36 UTC.<\/p>\n<p>The Soyuz 2.1b rocket was rolled out to Site No. 43\/3 at Plesetsk on 30 November and taken vertical for launch that same day.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Soyuz-2.1b launches Gonets-M satellites and 22 cubesats\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bm4nzyvw1kc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Soyuz 2.1b is one of five currently-flying Soyuz 2 variants, with the others being the 2.1a and 2.1v versions for Russian flights and the ST-A and ST-B variants for European flights of the rocket.<\/p>\n<p>The Soyuz 2.1b for this mission was Soyuz 14A14-16.&nbsp; It used Fregat 14C44 and Fairing 14C737.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"widget-title penci-border-arrow\">See Also<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Gonets-M Launch Coverage<\/li>\n<li>L2 Russian Section<\/li>\n<li>Russian Mission Forum<\/li>\n<li>Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The central Blok-A core is augmented by four side mounted liquid fueled boosters (Blok-B, -V, -G, -D).&nbsp; Together, the RD-108A engine of the Blok-A and the RD-107A engine on each booster provide 4,150.33 kN (933,031.3 lbf) of thrust at liftoff.<\/p>\n<p>The Soyuz 2.1b\u2019s Blok-I stage will use the uprated RD-0124 engine (which is where the variant differs from the 2.1a).&nbsp; The RD-0124 provides 294.3 kN (66,161.2 lbf) thrust with an isp, or specific impulse, of 359 seconds.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Fregat upper stage\u2019s S5.92 engine burns storable nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine \u2014 unlike the lower stages which use RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen.&nbsp; This storable propellant allows Fregat to coast for long periods of time between engine firings without losing propellant to boil-off.<\/p>\n<p>For launch, the engine ignition sequence began at T-16 seconds with liftoff timed to a single-second window to ensure the Gonets-M satellites are inserted into the proper orbital plane of the overall Gonets constellation.<\/p>\n<p>Immediately after liftoff, Soyuz pitched and rolled onto an azimuth (compass heading) to place itself into the properly inclined orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The boosters and Blok-A stage burned together for the first 2 minutes of flight, after which the boosters separated and the Blok-A continued firing for another 2 minutes 45 seconds.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71873\" class=\"size-full wp-image-71873\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gonets-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gonets-01.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gonets-01-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gonets-01-622x350.jpg 622w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gonets-01-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gonets-01-1170x658.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-71873\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two Gonets-M satellites, as seen on a Russian TV broadcast.<\/p>\n<p>Payload fairing separation occurs once the vehicle climbs out of the discernable atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>The Blok-I stage would then hot-fire, igniting its engine before the Blok-A stage burns out and separates.<\/p>\n<p>The Blok-I stage would take the mission to just over 9 minutes into flight, at which point it will cut off and separate.&nbsp; Fregat will then orient itself and ignite its engine one minute after separation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This first burn will take the Fregat and payloads into an initial parking orbit.&nbsp; A subsequent burn will then circularize the orbit at 1,400 km before the three Gonets-M satellites are deployed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Russian Aerospace Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a mission to deliver three Gonets-M communications satellites into a 1,400 km near-polar orbit. The flight, launched on a Soyuz 2.1b rocket with a Fregat upper stage, lifted off at 01:14:36 UTC on Thursday, 3 December (20:14:36 EST on Wednesday, 2 December) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1763,8850,7961,352,1302],"class_list":["post-37282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-fregat","tag-gonets-m","tag-plesetsk","tag-russia","tag-soyuz"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}