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On Wednesday 6
February,
Arianespace and
Starsem orbited six
new satellites of
the Globalstar-2
constellation.
The 1,799th launch
of a Soyuz family
rocket (Soyuz-Fregat
version) took place
at the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan. The
launcher lifted off
at 16:04 Universal
Time on Wednesday 6
February 2013 (10:04
pm local time, 5:04
pm in Paris and 8:04
am in San
Francisco).
Arianespace, Starsem
and their Russian
partners confirmed
that the Fregat
orbital stage
accurately injected
the six Globalstar-2
satellites into
their targeted
orbit. Two
successive firings
of the Fregat stage
were needed to carry
out this mission.
After stabilization
of the stage, the
dispenser released 1
hour and 38 minutes
after lift off the
two satellites
positioned in its
upper section; 1
minute and 40
seconds later, the
four satellites in
the lower part of
the dispenser were
released
simultaneously.
This latest success
for the Soyuz
launcher – and for
the Fregat upper
stage – clearly
indicates the
capabilities of the
Samara Space Centre
(TsSKB-Progress) and
NPO Lavotchkine, as
well as the skills
of the operating
teams working under
the authority of
Russian space agency
Roscosmos.
Each Globalstar-2
satellite, built by
Thales Alenia Space,
weighs approximately
650 kg at launch.
The constellation
features an
optimized design to
provide telephone
and data
transmission
services to
businesses and
individuals in more
than 120 countries.
The first 18
satellites of the
Globalstar-2
constellation were
orbited successfully
by Arianespace and
Starsem in 2010 and
2011. In 1999, Starsem had launched the 24 satellites in the Globalstar-1 constellation and in 2007 launched eight replacement satellites. |