Roscosmos successfully launched a rocket of "Gagarin" colors
The launch of the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage and 38 foreign spacecraft successfully took place today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
This was reported on the official website of Roscosmos, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The Russian upper stage will launch into orbit 38 spacecraft from 18 countries, as well as a satellite from the Higher School of Economics and the Sirius Educational Center. After regular insertion into target orbits, they will be transferred to the control of customers.
“It was raining heavily during the launch, which is why the pictures of the ascent turned out so unusual. Soyuz-2 is a serious and unpretentious rocket. She doesn’t need an umbrella,” wrote Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin, who published photographs of the launch, in his Telegram channel.
The launch was carried out according to the commercial program of the Glavkosmos Launch Services company (part of Roscosmos). The launch, separation of stages and upper stage took place as usual.
The Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle was created at the Progress Rocket and Space Center (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) and is a modification of Soyuz-2. The rocket is characterized by increased launch accuracy and increased payload mass in low orbits due to improved control systems and propulsion systems of the first and second stages.
For the first time, this missile is painted in white and blue instead of the standard gray and orange color combination. The source of inspiration for the new coloring was the prototype of the Vostok launch vehicle, on which the first cosmonaut of the planet, Yuri Gagarin, took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome 60 years ago.
Roscosmos successfully launched a rocket in Gagarin's colors.