Russia launched an upgraded version of its Soyuz rocket on Saturday, successfully delivering a scientific satellite into space. The Soyuz-2.1v light class rocket includes a new engine design.
“The operational crew at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome [in Russia’s
Arkhangelsk Region] has successfully conducted a unique launch of
a light-class Soyuz-2.1v rocket carrier with Volga upper stage
and Aist spacecraft,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
The Soyuz-2.1v blasted off at 12:30 GMT, with the Aist satellite
being put into orbit at 14:09 GMT.
The new rocket represents a major development in the Soyuz
program, which began in 1966.
The booster features a completely reworked first stage, powered
by a NK-33 (14D15) rocket engine which has twice the thrust in
comparison with its predecessors.
The new carrier and its Volga upper stage are designed to inject
various spacecrafts into circular orbits of up to 1,500
kilometers and sun-synchronous orbits of up to 850 kilometers.
The light class booster is able to carry up to 2,800 kilograms of
payload.
The Soyuz-2.1v was developed in response to an increasing demand
to launch small satellites and end the use of Tsiklon and Kosmos
boosters - as well as in response to insufficient numbers of
Rokot boosters.
The Aist satellite which the new rocket launched into orbit was
created by students and young scientists at Samara State
Aerospace University and Progress Central Assembly and Design
Engineering Bureau.
The spacecraft is aimed at testing the technologies that are used
during the construction of microsatellites, which weigh between
10 and 100 kilograms.
The Soyuz-2.1v launch was originally planned for late 2012, but
was delayed several times.
The launch was then scheduled for December 23, 2013, but was
again postponed due to additional checks.
Earlier on Saturday, Russian defense official Colonel Dmitry
Zenin said that the Soyuz-2.1v would not be travelling to space
in 2013.
But the state commission, which gathered at Plesetsk, decided to
go ahead with the launch.
Soyuz boosters have performed over 1,700 launches since 1966,
making them the most widely used rockets in the history of space
exploration.
The Soyuz rocket, along with China’s Long March 2F, is one of the
two rockets in the world capable of sending people into orbit.