Launch details

Angara 1.2 | 3 x Rodnik (Kosmos 2585, 2586, 2587)

Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center

Government • RUS

35/1

Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Mar 16 at 01:30pm

Launchpad time•+0300

Mar 16 at 10:30am

Your local time•+0000

Current status

Launch Successful

Angara 1.2

Launch vehicle

3 x Rodnik (Kosmos 2585, 2586, 2587)

Mission

62.9273

Latitude

40.5749

Longitude

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24 hours before launch

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1 hour before launch

Note: For all launches the scheduled launch dates and times are subject to change due to weather, equipment, crew and other factors.

Mission description

Note: Payload identity and Cosmos series numbering not confirmed. The Strela (Russian: Стрела) are Soviet, then Russian, military space telecommunication satellites, in use since 1964. These satellites operate as mailboxes ("store-and-forward"): they remember the received messages and then resend them after the scheduled time, or by a command from the Earth. They can serve for up to five years. The satellites are used for transmission of encrypted messages and images. The operational constellation consists of 12 satellites in two orbital planes, spaced 90° apart. The spacecraft had a cylindrical body with a gravity-gradient boom, which was extended on-orbit to provide passive attitude stabilization. On-board storage was 12 Mbits of data, with a transmission rate of 2.4 kbit/s. The first three satellites were launched in 1964 by a Cosmos launcher. After one year of service, new and improved satellites were launched, called Strela-2. In 1970, these satellites were modernized, and became the Strela-1M and Strela-2M satellites. From 1985, these satellites will be gradually replaced by Strela-3, and then by Strela-3M from 2005. A civilian version of these satellites was created, called Goniets. Initially they were launched in groups of six on Tsyklon; when the launcher was retired, they were only launched by two on Cosmos, before Rokot was put into service and allowed the sending of triplets of Strela satellites.

— 3 x Rodnik (Kosmos 2585, 2586, 2587)

Image Gallery

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Space live streams

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Attending a launch in person

Paid guided tours are how foreigners access Russian cosmodromes, for example Russia Discovery or Star City Tours, at a cost of around 3000 USD. The most valuable service they'll provide is organizing your permits with the Russian or Kazakh authorities.

If you only plan on seeing one, Vostochny is the most modern and likely the heart of Russian spaceflight moving forward, while Baikonur is steeped in history as the launch place of the first human in space (Yuri Gagarin) and the first woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova).

How to get there

From Moscow you can take an 18-hour overnight train directly to Plesetsk or a flight to Arkhangelsk and then a 5-hour train from there to Plesetsk or Mirny.

Note this is a highly restricted military spaceport and so all necessary permissions will need to be arranged beforehand.

Accomodation

Nearby hotels in Mirny for authorized visitors only. Hotels in Plesetsk are available to the general public.

Nearby parking

Parking not available on-site.

Agency details