Russian communication satellite Meridian launched into orbit
Launch vehicle Soyuz-2.1a with the satellite Meridian on board has been successfully launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region. Its start, as reported by the RF Ministry of Defence, Department of Space Forces, was accomplished in normal mode. The launch was supervised by Chairman of the State Commission for the launch, the Space Forces Commander, Lieutenant-General Oleg Ostapenko. Read more
Russia successfully launched and orbited a Meridian communications satellite of the Kosmos series overnight. A Soyuz-2a rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk launching site at 00:38 GMT and successfully placed the payload into the near-Earth orbit.
A carrier rocket in the family of modernized Soyuz-2 carriers lifted off from the Plesetsk space centre at 03:38 Moscow Standard Time /00:38 GMT/ to bring into space the Meridian probe. Read more