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April 28, 2016
Soyuz-2.1a lifted off on time at 2:01 UTC, 05:01 MSK from Vostochny Cosmodrome
Soyuz-2.1a lifted off on time at 2:01 UTC, 05:01 MSK on a trek across the Russian territory to reach a high-inclination orbit. The 46-meter tall rocket successfully fired its three stages as part of a standard ascent profile, taking nine minutes from liftoff to the separation of the Volga upper stage, flying for the first time on a Soyuz 2-1A rocket.
Soyuz-2.1a lifted off from Vostochny Cosmodrome
A Russian government Soyuz rocket launched for the first time from the new Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East, carrying a satellite named Mikhailo Lomonosov with instruments to study high-energy cosmic rays, gamma rays and the Earth’s upper atmosphere and magnetosphere. Two smaller secondary payloads, named Aist 2 and SamSat 218, also launched aboard the Soyuz rocket. The rocket will fly in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration with a Volga upper stage.
Vostochny Cosmodrome
It was up to Volga to finish lifting the three satellites to their intended orbits in a mission with two upper stage burns. Riding side by side atop a payload dispenser were the Lomonosov research satellite from Moscow State University and AIST-2D technical demonstration and science spacecraft developed in Samara by TsSKB Progress and Samara State Aerospace University.
Mikhailo Lomonosov research satellite
The two satellites, along with a small CubeSat, were successfully deployed into a Sun Synchronous Orbit two hours after launch while the Volga stage was to finish its mission by making a targeted re-entry in the Pacific Ocean seven hours after liftoff.
ROSCOSMOS official website (no longer updated since the end of 2015): http://en.federalspace.ru/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/Günter Space Page/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Catherine Laplace-Builhe/Roland Berga.
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