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Russian Rocket Launches Molniya Satellite from Plesetsk
By Jim Banke
Senior Producer, Cape Canaveral Bureau
posted: 12:00 pm ET
02 April 2003
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Russian Rocket Launches Molniya Satellite from Plesetsk CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Russian Molniya-M rocket has successfully orbited a military communications satellite, officials reported Wednesday. Liftoff from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome came at 9:53 p.m. EST Tuesday (0153 GMT Wednesday), according to a statement released by Starsem, the commercial operator of the Soyuz family of boosters of which Molniya-M is a part. The spacecraft arrived in its extreme elliptical-shaped orbit 57 minutes later the Russian Space Forces press service told the Interfax news agency. The satellite's orbit allows it to "hover" over a particular point on Earth while the spacecraft nears and returns from its farthest distance from the planet. This is the first launch of the Soyuz family of rockets from Russia's northern launch site of Plesetsk since an Oct. 15, 2002 mishap in which a Soyuz booster exploded after lift off, killing one soldier on the ground. According to Space Forces Commander Anatoly Perminov, the launch marked the 216th success for the Molniya-M booster out of 222 attempts. Starsem said the space shot marked the 1676th launch of Soyuz or Soyuz-derived vehicle. Perminov praised the Space Forces' accomplishment and congratulated them on the successful launch by highlighting their "professionalism and coordination of the cosmodrome personnel and industry representatives." Perminov also acknowledged the manufacturers involved in the flight for "supporting and developing the Russian military orbital group." Although this was a military launch, Starsem noted that its commercial manifest for Soyuz missions currently includes contracted launches for Space Systems/Loral, Alcatel Space Industries, the European Space Agency and Eumetsat.
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