Russia launched a Soyuz rocket Sunday with a fresh satellite for the country’s Glonass navigation system, which broadcasts positioning and timing signals to Russian military forces and civilian users worldwide.
The Soyuz 2-1b rocket lifted off at 2254 GMT (6:54 p.m. EDT) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military-run facility in the Arkhangelsk region about 500 miles north of Moscow.
After a nine-minute ascent powered by the Soyuz rocket’s three kerosene-fueled core stages, a Fregat upper stage fired its engine three times to boost the mission’s Glonass navigation payload into a 12,000-mile-high orbit.
The Fregat upper stage released the 3,119-pound Glonass M satellite at 0226 GMT Monday (10:26 p.m. EDT Sunday), according to the Interfax news agency.
A spokesperson with the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces told Interfax the spacecraft was communicating with ground controllers and functioning normally.
The Glonass M satellite, designated No. 54 in the Glonass fleet, was manufactured by ISS Reshetnev and is designed for a seven-year operational life.
According to a ISS Reshetnev press release issued in February, five Glonass satellites are scheduled for launch in 2014, including the payload launched Sunday.
Source: Spaceflightnow
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