|
|
![]()
|
|
Russians deploy new military spacecraft into orbit BY STEPHEN CLARK SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: December 2, 2008 Russia launched a military reconnaissance satellite Tuesday morning into an elliptical high-altitude orbit from the country's northern space base, according to news reports. The launch occurred at 0500 GMT (12 a.m. EST) Tuesday from Complex 16's pad 2 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in far northern Russia. The four-stage Molniya-M rocket reached its final orbit less than an hour later, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. The Molniya-M rocket, a modified version of the Soyuz booster, was likely carrying an Oko-class early warning satellite to detect U.S. missile launches. Oko satellites circle Earth in egg-shaped orbits with high points about 25,000 miles above the planet. The payload from Tuesday's launch will be called Kosmos 2446 under the Russian military's spacecraft naming system. Tuesday's flight used a Molniya rocket from Russia's military stockpile. The launch could be the last mission for the storied rocket, which has flown about 225 times since debuting in 1964. Russia previously announced that future military launches from Plesetsk will use Soyuz rockets. |
|
|
|
Current Shuttle Mission Patch The official embroidered patch for shuttle Endeavour's flight to finish building Japanese section of the space station.Hubble Patch The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.Ares Patch The Ares Project will develop two new rockets to launch astronauts back to the Moon under NASA's Vision for Exploration. The Ares 1 will employ a single space shuttle solid rocket booster to loft the Orion crew capsule. The gigantic Ares 5 will haul the equipment and cargo needed for such lunar voyages. This is the Ares emblem.![]() Project Orion The Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.Fallen Heroes Patch Collection The official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store. |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
INDEX | PLUS | NEWS ARCHIVE | LAUNCH SCHEDULE ASTRONOMY NOW | STORE ADVERTISE © 2009 Spaceflight Now Inc. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||