ARIANESPACE / ROSCOSMOS - Soyuz Flight ST-31 OneWeb 6 Mission poster.
April 25, 2021
Launch of OneWeb satellites from Vostochny
On Monday, April 26, 2021, at 01:14:08 Moscow time, the launch crews of the subsidiaries of the State Corporation Roscosmos at the Vostochny cosmodrome launched the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat upper stage and 36 new spacecraft company OneWeb in the framework of mission number 45. At 01:23 Moscow time, the upper stage separated from the third stage of the carrier on a suborbital trajectory.
OneWeb 6 launch (On-board camera view)
According to the received telemetry information, the launch, separation of the stages and the orbital block were carried out in the normal mode. After that, the Fregat upper stage continued to launch 36 vehicles into a target circular orbit with an altitude of 450 kilometers. Over the next 3 hours and 40 minutes, OneWeb satellites, in accordance with the flight sequence, will be sequentially separated (in groups of four satellites) from the Russian "accelerator" produced by the S.A. Lavochkin (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation).
Soyuz-2.1b on the launch-pad
This launch was the third fully commercial from the Vostochny cosmodrome, implemented by order of the European provider of launch services Arianespace and the Russian-French company Starsem for the operator of the innovative satellite constellation OneWeb from the new Russian cosmodrome.
Launch of OneWeb satellites from Vostochny on April 26, 2021
The Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle was created at the Progress Rocket and Space Center (Samara, part of Roscosmos) and is a modification of Soyuz-2. In comparison with variant "1a" it has an engine with increased energy characteristics in the third stage. The Soyuz-2.1b has higher launch accuracy, stability and controllability than the previous version, and an increased payload mass.
OneWeb payloads
Liquid-propellant rocket engines RD-107A and RD-108A are used at the first and second stages of the launch vehicle, and at the third stage, the four-chamber RD-0124. With the help of RD-107 and RD-108 developments of the Scientific and Production Association "Energomash" named after academician V.P. Glushko (part of Roscosmos) reliably ensures the implementation of the domestic program of manned flights and spacecraft launch. To date, work has been carried out to modernize the basic RD-107 engines for the first stage and RD-108 engines for the second stage - 18 modifications for various programs.
ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/30877/
Images, Videos, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/ARIANESPACE/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
