Soyuz-2 carrier rocket puts in orbit Meridian spacecraft
MOSCOW. May 5. KAZINFORM The Soyuz-2 carrier rocket that was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome has successfully placed into the target orbit the Meridian spacecraft for the RF Defence Ministry; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
Spokesman for the Space Forces Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin told Itar-Tass that "at 21:50 MSK the Fregat upper stage with the Meridian spacecraft successfully separated from the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket of the 1a modernisation stage and at the designated time - 23:59 MSK (May 4) - placed the spacecraft into orbit."
"After the separation the spacecraft was taken under control of the systems of the Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre," Zolotukhin said. "Stable communication was established and is maintained with it. Onboard satellite systems are functioning normally."
The Soyuz-2 three-stage middle-class liquid-propelled carrier rocket of the 1a modernisation phase was designed and manufactured at the Samara-based Progress State Research and Production Space Centre (also known as TsSKB-Progress), and the Fregat upper stage - at NPO Lavochkin Research and Production Association. TsSKB-Progress is the developer and manufacturer of the Soyuz FG series of launch vehicles used for human spaceflight launches, and the Soyuz-U series used for robotic spacecraft launches. Commercial marketing of these launch vehicles is handled by the company Starsem. TsSKB-Progress' satellite products include the Foton and Foton-M science satellite series, the Yantar military satellites and the Resurs DK Earth resource satellite.
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