Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | Rocket puts secret Russian satellite into polar orbit

Spaceflight Now +

		Subscribe to Spaceflight Now Plus for access to our extensive video collections! How do I sign up? Video archive STS-69: The Dog Crew Astronauts flying aboard shuttle Endeavour in September 1995 called themselves the Dog Crew, a lighthearted twist to their complicated mission to launch and then retrieve a pair of satellites. Play Riding on Endeavour Now you can take a virtual trip aboard shuttle Endeavour's recent launch thanks to video cameras mounted inside the ship's cockpit as well as outside on the twin solid rocket boosters and external tank. Full Coverage Become a subscriber More video

Rocket puts secret Russian satellite into polar orbit
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: September 11, 2007

A Russian military satellite was lobbed into orbit aboard a Kosmos 3M rocket during a Tuesday launch from the nation's northern launch site, according to Russian media reports.

The space delivery mission began with liftoff of the 105-foot-tall booster at 1305 GMT (9:05 a.m. EDT) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The two-stage Kosmos 3M rocket successfully deployed its secret payload into a circular near-polar orbit about an hour later, according to the Interfax news agency.

The spacecraft is called Kosmos 2429 under the Russian Defense Ministry's naming system for military satellites. Interfax reported no official comment from military officials on further details of the new craft.

Tuesday's launch was the third of the year for Russian military forces. It also marked the 38th space launch to reach orbit in 2007 from locations around the world.