October 4, 2011

Soyuz Rocket Launch Restores Russian Navigation System


A fresh satellite for Russia's Glonass navigation network launched aboard a modernized Soyuz rocket Sunday (Oct. 2) on the first flight of the workhorse booster since a mishap doomed a mission in August.

The Soyuz 2-1b rocket lifted off at 2015 GMT (4:15 p.m. EDT) Sunday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Launch occurred at 12:15 a.m. Moscow time.

The rocket's three core stages finished their work in less than 10 minutes, then a Fregat upper stage fired three times to reach a circular orbit almost 12,000 miles above Earth.
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