MOSCOW, May 04 /ITAR-TASS/. A space rocket Soyuz-2.1a was delivered and put on a launching pad at northern Russia’s Plesetsk spaceport, where the launch crew will make a cycle of tests of on-board systems and units of the rocket and launching equipment, Defence Ministry’s spokesman for Aerospace Defence Troops Col Aleksey Zolotukhin told Itar-Tass.
The decision to deliver and place the launch vehicle Soyuz-2.1a on the launching pad was taken at a meeting of the state committee for flying trials of military spacecrafts which was held at Plesetsk spaceport under the chairmanship of Commander of Aerospace Defence Troops Lieutenant General Alexander Golovko on Saturday.
The launch of rocket Soyuz-2.1a with a military spacecraft is due on May 6, 2014.
Rocket Soyuz-2.1a is a modification of rocket Soyuz-2 belonging to three-stage, middle-class rockets created on the basis of rocket Soyuz-U through deep modernisation made by the Samara-based design bureau Progress. The payload weight put on the low Earth orbit ranges from 2,800 to 9,200 kilograms depending on modification and a point of launch.
Instead of two analogue control systems a unified digital control system of Russian production is mounted on Soyuz-2.1a that allows increasing sharply accuracy of orbiting, stability and controllability of the rocket. The payload put into orbit is increased thanks to larger nose fairings. Soyuz-2.1a is also equipped with a new digital radio-telemetric system.