Rockot Launch Places 3 Military Satellites In Orbit

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Since the first launch, on May 16, 2000, Rockot/Breeze-KM has performed a total of 17 launches from Plesetsk Cosmodrome with 2 failures (Credits: Eurockot)

Since the first launch, on May 16, 2000, Rockot/Breeze-KM has performed a total of 17 launches from Plesetsk Cosmodrome with 2 failures (Credits: Eurockot).

A Rockot launcher, carrying 3 Cosmos series satellites, lifted off from the Plesetsk Space Center in Northern Russia, on January 15.

“The Rockot carrier rocket with three military satellites was successfully launched at 8:25 p.m. Moscow time (4:25 p.m. GMT)” said the spokesman of the Russian Aerospace Defense Force, Col. Alexei Zolotukhin.

The Rockot is a 3-stages light class vehicle, derived from the Russian RS-18, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The lower stages are the original ICBM’s stages, while the upper stage is a Breeze-KM, capable of multi-ignition which allows placement of multiple spacecraft in different orbits.

The launch had been originally scheduled for August 2012 but it was put off due to the Proton’s Breeze-M failure on August 6, as Rockot’s Breeze-KM shares a lot of components with the larger Breeze-M.  The launch was then rescheduled for December 8 and again postponed when, during launch preparations it was found that the Breeze-M had developed a fault in its avionics.

Previously, a  Breeze-KM suffered an ignition failure in February, 2011.  The malfunctions resulted in a lower orbit injection for the Cosmos 2470, also known as Geo-IK-2, a Russian geodesy satellite. Geo-IK-2 was then declared unable to fulfil the mission and after a system malfunction, the satellite began tumbling and control was lost in March 2011. However, after a few months, the communications were restored and the Russian engineers managed to reacquire flight control.  Still unable to fulfil its primary objectives, the satellite is now used for training personnel.  In the wake of this malfunction, Rockot launches were suspended for 18 months, until July 28, 2012, when a new Rockot vehicle carried a Cosmos military satellite and 3 civilian spacecraft into orbit

After an eventful 2012 which the manufacturers would rather forget, this successful mission is likely to rebuild some confidence for the Breeze Upper Stage family.

Below, a Rokot launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome:

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