Russian rocket blasts European sats into orbit
Published: 02 November, 2009, 13:56
The Russian launch vehicle “Rokot” has taken the scientific satellites SMOS and Proba-2 into space on Monday morning.
The rocket, equipped with a Briz-KM booster and the two satellites onboard, blasted off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Russia’s north at 04:50 Moscow time.
SMOS was built by the European Space Agency as part of the Living Planet program. It will monitor water distribution on the Earth’s surface and the changes in salinity of the world ocean. The data provided by the satellite will help create more accurate climate models and improve the accuracy of weather forecasts.
Proba-2 is a flying orbital lab, which will test 17 technologies meant for future spacecraft. It will also make observations of the Sun.
Rokot is a civilian version of the Russian intercontinental ballistic missile RS-18, also known as SS-19 Stiletto. Since its first test in 1990, Russia has carried out 14 successful launches, most of them from Plesetsk. One launch ended in failure in 2005.
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