Russia begins space year with Proton-M rocket launch
Moscow: Russia is beginning the
space year with the launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome of the
Proton-M carrier rocket with a military satellite of the
Cosmos series, a spokesman for the Russian Space Troops said.
A Proton-M rocket carrier with a military satellite
onboard was launched from the Baikonur space launch site at
03:20 (Moscow time) on Thursday morning, Colonel Alexei
Zolotukhin said.
The press service of the Yuzhny Space Centre said that
the Proton-M carrier rocket with the Briz-M upper stage and a
spacecraft of the Kosmos series was created on the order of
the RF Defence Ministry.
The Proton-M rocket and Briz-M upper stage were
designed by the Khrunichev space research and production
centre. Proton-M is a three-stage liquid propellant rocket
with a take-off mass of 700 tonnes. There were 10 Proton-M
launches last year, all successful.
Earlier, Space Troops commander Major-General Oleg
Ostapenko said the Russian cluster of satellites would be
improved considerably with new spacecraft with advanced
tactical-technical characteristics.
"As of now, it has some 70 per cent of military and
dual-purpose satellites functioning for the country's defense
and security. Over 30 per cent of the cluster of Russian
satellites are advanced units which are being tested at
present," Ostapenko noted.
PTI