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Russia Launches Upgraded Soyuz And German Reentry Tech Mission
Moscow (AFP) February 9, 2000 - Russia Wednesday launched a Soyuz rocket equipped with a new thruster and bearing a revolutionary re-entry system, Itar-Tass news agency reported. The test flight took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:20 a.m. (2320 GMT Tuesday). The new upper-stage, maneuverable Fregat thruster will enable mission controllers to place satellites into higher orbits, the Franco-Russian company Starsem, which markets the Soyuz for business purposes, said in a statement in Paris. The launch will also test a payload jointly developed by the Russian firm NPO Lavochkin and the German aerospace giant DASA, Starsem said.
A 70-centimeter (two and a half feet) nose takes the initial thermal shock of re-entry, enduring up to 1,100 degrees Celsius (1,980 degrees Fahrenheit). When the spacecraft reaches about 20,000-30,000 meters (65,000-97,500 feet), the shield is inflated further, virtually doubling the surface area offered to the rushing air, to brake the descent. A telescopic damper takes the final shock when the spacecraft hits the ground, at around 40 kph (25 mph). No parachute is used. If all goes well, the shuttlecock, made of secret plastics devised during the Soviet era, will unlock huge savings for carrying space freight. Placing cargo on the US space shuttle costs 20,000 dollars per kilo (9,000 dollars per pound) -- but this would be at least halved if a payload can be brought back safely in a cheap, unmanned mission, project sources say. Copyright 1999 AFP. All rights reserved. The material on this page is provided by AFP and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Space
Satellite Launch To Boost DTH In India
Calcutta, India (SPX) Dec 28, 2005The successful launch Thursday of India's heaviest satellite from spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana may have boosted the country's space research efforts to yet another level, but it has also lifted the spirits of at least three Direct-To-Home televisions broadcasters, one of which has been waiting for years to launch its services in India. |
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A small satellite and the rocket's upper stage are scheduled to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere using an innovative heat shield shaped like a small shuttlecock, which inflates to become up to 14 meters (45.5 feet) across.