On September 23, 2015 at 22:00 UTC (on September 24 at 01:00 Moscow time) the “Rockot” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket equipped with the “Briz-KM” booster (upper stage) orbited 3 “Rodnik” satellites. They were named officially as "Kosmos-2507”, "Kosmos-2508” and "Kosmos-2509”. The “Rodnik” satellites are believed to be a version of the “Gonets-M” satellites. The “Gonets-M” space vehicle is an upgraded version of the “Gonets” satellite, a derivative of the “Strela-3” military satellite system. The “Rodnik” satellites are believed to be the military version of the spacecraft family. Rockot is a three-stage launch vehicle developed and produced by the Russian Khrunichev Space Center on the basis of the RS-18 double-stage intercontinental ballistic missile. Attachments: |