BFF-52 Russia launches first Soyuz rocket since failed space launch

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Russia launches first Soyuz rocket since failed space launch

MOSCOW, Oct 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Russia on Thursday successfully launched
a Soyuz rocket for the first time since the failure of a similar rocket
aborted a manned take-off to the International Space Station (ISS) on October
11.

“On Thursday at 03:15 (0015 GMT) a Soyuz-2.1B rocket was successfully
launched carrying a satellite for the Russian military,” the Russian defence
ministry said in a statement.

The satellite reached its orbit at the set time, according to the ministry.

“This is the first launch of a rocket from the Soyuz family since the
October 11 accident,” Russia’s space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin wrote on
Twitter.

It was the third launch of a Soyuz rocket from Russia’s northern Plesetsk
launch pad this year, the military said.

The satellite launch had originally been planned for October 19 but was
postponed after the accident that saw two astronauts make an emergency
landing minutes after blast-off from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome.

The failed launch involved an older Soyuz-FG rocket, which is “in principle
the same rocket” as used in Thursday’s launch but has less engine power in
the third stage, space expert Konstantin Kreidenko told AFP,

Russia will switch to the Soyuz-2.1 series for launches to the ISS by 2020,
replacing the Soyuz-FG, which has been in use for 20 years, Kreidenko said.

Russia’s Roscosmos space agency has set up a commission to investigate the
failed launch to the ISS and is set to announce its findings on October 30.

Russia has in the meanwhile suspended all Soyuz launches but this does not
apply to launches by the military such as Thursday’s satellite launch.

BSS/AFP/MSY/1723 hrs