Space News reports that on Monday at 2:07 a.m. EDT, a Soyuz rocket launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying 38 satellites from 18 countries. The launch was the “first all-commercial rideshare mission GK Launch Services has arranged without a Russian government satellite onboard.” The rocket’s primary payload was South Korea’s CAS500-1 remote sensing satellite, which “separated from the rocket’s Fregat upper stage around 3:10 a.m EDT, according to a [Roscosmos] news release.” Following “two more restarts of the Fregat upper stage, the first batch of secondary payloads – four GRUS remote sensing satellites for Tokyo-based Axelspace Corp. – were deployed between 4:35 a.m. and 4:37 a.m.” EDT. The “deployment of the remaining secondary payloads began at 6:13 a.m. and concluded at 6:43 a.m. EDT following two more upper stage burns, according to Roscosmos.”
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Tag: 38
Soyuz Embargo Grounds More than a Dozen Satellite Missions
Space News reports that the Soyuz rocket’s “sudden exit from the global stage has left more than a dozen non-Russian satellite missions without clear paths to orbit.” Phil Smith, a BryceTech analyst, “said the sudden, indefinite removal of Soyuz from the market ‘puts some customers in a lurch.’ And while ‘options exist’ thanks to ‘new capability being introduced’ this year by Arianespace and others, ‘prompt rescheduling will be challenging as these companies have existing backlogs.’”
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