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May 26, 2017
Image above: Launch of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the EKS-2 satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on May 25, 2017. Image Credit: Russian Ministry of Defence.
Shortly after 2:34 a.m. EDT (06:34 GMT), May 25, 2017, a Russian Soyuz 2.1b rocket lifted off from site No. 43 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome and delivered the second of the EKS series of early-warning satellites to a rare Tundra orbit.
Soyuz 2.1b launches Kosmos-2518 (EKS-2)
A Russian government Soyuz rocket as launched the EKS 1 early warning satellite for the Russian military. The EKS, or Tundra, satellites fly in highly elliptical tundra orbits. The rocket fly in the Soyuz-2.1b configuration with a Fregat upper stage.
Image above: A small-scale model of the EKS series of early-warning satellites. Image credit: The Moscow Times.
The Fregat-MT, outfitted with an S5.95 engine, provided up to 4,460 pounds-force (about 20 kilonewtons) of vacuum thrust over multiple firings to deliver the EKS-2 satellite to its drop-off spot. EKS-2, which has its own propulsion system, will fine-tune its orbit over the coming days to place itself in its desired Tundra orbit.
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