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Russian Proton Launch Planned for Wednesday
By Anatoly Zak
Staff Writer
posted: 09:20 am ET
26 October 1999
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russia_launch_991026The final checks are underway at the Russian space facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan for Wednesday's launch of a Proton booster with an Express communication satellite, said Andrei Derbushev, spokesman for the Khrunichev Space Center in Moscow.
The Express network will include three spacecraft in geostationary orbit. The first -- Express-A1 -- is slated to be stationed at longitude 80 degrees east over the Equator. According to RASA, the spacecraft, equipped with 12 antennae, has an expected lifetime of 10 years. It should be able to maintain its orbital position within 0.2 degrees.
The preparations for another Proton launch, which will carry the Garuda communications satellite, is also on schedule for Oct. 31, according to Khrunichev. Garuda is a commercial satellite, which will provide mobile telephone service in Asia.
Garuda and Express have traded places in the schedule. Express had launch priority because it is a payload for the Russian Federal Space Program. The Express project recently has experienced several delays. The project's main contractor, NPO PM, has experienced financial problems. The failed Proton launch in July also affected the launch schedule.
Meanwhile, the Strategic Missile Forces is preparing a demonstrational launch in Plesetsk of the Rockot booster. This configuration uses a converted two-stage ICBM UR-100NU -- also known in the West as the SS-19 -- and a new upper stage, Breeze. Derbushev said the launch, originally planned for September, is now delayed until November.
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