The image of October 25, 2018 shows the Soyuz-2 rocket, starting from the launch complex Plesetsk in northwest Russia. The rocket launched a military satellite into orbit. This is the first successful launch since the unsuccessful launch in early October (failure to deliver people to the ISS)
On October 25, the Russian Soyuz-2 rocket launched a military satellite into orbit. This is the first successful start since the launch failed in early October (failure to deliver people to the ISS). The Russian military said that Soyuz-2 was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in north-west Russia.
Recall that the Soyuz-FG rocket with astronaut Tyler Haig and astronaut Alexei Ovchinin crashed on October 11, sending a capsule with the crew back to Earth with an emergency descent. The crew survived, but Roskosmos suspended all Union launches until Thursday. The official commission has not yet put forward any explanation, but there is a thought about the failure of the element during the release from one of the four side accelerators. Most likely, the damage occurred during the final assembly at the Baikonur cosmodrome (Kazakhstan).
Russia announced plans for two more unmanned launches of the Union before sending the crew to the ISS. The exact date has not yet been set, but the beginning of December is preliminarily called. Now at the station are Serina Aunon-Chancellor, Sergei Prokopiev and Alexander Gerst. They should return to Earth in December after a 6-month mission. The Soyuz capsule attached to the ISS is designed for 200 days in space, which means it will prolong your stay in space for a short time.
The image of October 25, 2018 shows the Soyuz-2 rocket, starting from the launch complex Plesetsk in northwest Russia. The rocket launched a military satellite into orbit. This is the first successful start since the unsuccessful launch in early October (failure to deliver people to the ISS)
Flight controllers are able to successfully control the orbital station without human intervention on board, if the Russian investigation is delayed. However, NASA hopes for the efficiency of Russia and the restoration of flights in December.
Now the Union is considered the only spacecraft in the world to transport crews to the ISS, since the American space shuttles have long since retired. But Russia risks losing its monopoly with the arrival of commercial capsules Dragon (SpaceX) and Starliner (Boeing).
The failure of the Soyuz program was another blow to the Russian space program, which recently had to face a series of failures. The accident on October 11 marked the first break in launches since 1983, when this happened to two Russian astronauts who had performed a successful landing after a failed start.
