PLESETSK SPACE CENTER, Russia - A Russian Rockot launch vehicle lifted off on March 31 from the Plesetsk Space Center. Lift off occurred at 4:48 p.m. Moscow Time (9:48 a.m. EDT) with three communications satellites and an unspecified military satellite aboard. The payloads reached their intended orbits about two hours later.
Rockot is a medium-sized expendable launch vehicle based on the SS-19 ICBM (NATO code-name Stiletto), with a Breeze-KM upper stage. The SS-19 was manufactured during the 1970s and 1980s. It is estimated that 360 were built in total, although some were destroyed as part of the START II treaty.
Gonets-M satellites are used for data communications. Satellites receive signals as they pass over a transmitter, stores the information, and later broadcasts the data when the satellite passes over a receiver. They are based on military Stela satellites, and are primarily used for communications over rural areas of Russia. The satellites launched on March 31 are part of a second-generation constellation, which first launched in 2005. It is believed that each satellite in the constellation has a launch mass of 280 kg, and there are 12 satellites divided into four orbital planes. They have an estimated lifespan of five to seven years. The three satellites launched March 31 were designated numbers 21, 22, and 23.
Much less is known about the fourth satellite. Some sources indicate the satellite could be given the Russian military designation Kosmos 2504, and that it could be a replacement for Kosmos 2499 - a classified military satellite carried into orbit on a Rockot launch vehicle in May 2014.
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