ROSCOSMOS logo.
Nov. 11, 2013
Russian workhorse rocket is delivering a classified communications satellite for the nation's armed forces Tuesday.
Proton-M night launch
The official Russian sources confirmed that the launch of a Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M upper stage took place as scheduled on Nov. 12, 2013, 03:46:00 Moscow Time (6:46 p.m. EST on November 11) from Pad No. 24 at Site 81 in Baikonur.
Liftoff Proton-M with Raduga-1 spacecraft in the interests of the Defense Ministry
Although the nature of the payload is not being disclosed at the time of the launch, industry sources previously indicated that the vehicle would carry a Raduga-1M (Globus-1M) communications satellite for the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is believed to be the third satellite in the Raduga-1M series.
An official depiction of the Raduga-1 satellite
According to the official RIA Novosti news agency, Major General Aleksandr Golovko, the commander of the Russian Air and Space Defense forces, VKO, personally witnessed the launch in Baikonur. The agency then quoted a VKO spokesman Dmitry Zenin as saying that the spacecraft was scheduled to separate from its upper stage at 12:47 Moscow Time on Nov. 12, 2013, (3:47 a.m. EST), or nine hours and one minute after liftoff. The Russian ground control network would then enter communications with the spacecraft at 13:02 Moscow Time (4:02 a.m. EST) on the same day.
The launch with Raduga-1M became the eighth mission of the Proton rocket in 2013.
Images, Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS / ROSCOSMOS TV / RussianSpaceWeb.com / Anatoly Zak / ISS Reshetnev / Gunter's Space Page.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
