MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. South Korea’s CAS500-1 Earth’s remote sensing satellite and another 37 satellites launched atop a Russian Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket from the Baikonur spaceport have been successfully delivered into the designated orbit by the carrier’s Fregat booster, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin announced on Monday.
"Overall, the CAS500-1 spacecraft and 37 hosted payload satellites have separated," the Russian space agency head said.
The launch used a new system for satellites’ separation from the rocket’s upper stage for orbiting space vehicles with sensitive scientific and onboard equipment, Roscosmos specified.
"The new system is set to be subsequently used for orbiting next series CAS500 satellites and also some Russian satellites," the statement says.
The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with 38 satellites from 18 countries blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan at 09:07 Moscow time on March 22. In about nine minutes after the lift-off, the rocket’s upper stage comprising the Fregat booster and the satellites separated from the carrier’s third stage.
The launch was initially planned for March 20 but was rescheduled for the back-up date shortly before the blast-off. As Roscosmos Chief Rogozin told TASS on Saturday evening, the launch was rescheduled due to a problem with the ground equipment that was subsequently eliminated. Glavkosmos Launch Services (a Roscosmos subsidiary) later specified that the problem was related to ground-based auxiliary equipment of the Fregat booster.
The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket has orbited South Korea’s CAS500-1 Earth’s remote sensing satellite, Japan’s ELSA-d space junk removal craft, the Japanese GRUS Earth’s remote sensing micro-satellites, Saudi Arabia’s NAJM-1 Earth imaging and communications small satellite and communications satellites of Berlin Technical University.
The Soyuz carrier rocket has also put into orbit the first DZZ satellite of Russia’s Higher School of Economics National Research University, a CubeSat developed by the Sirius Center and the Higher School of Economics National Research University, an OrbiCraft-Zorky satellite belonging to the Russian private space company Sputnix, as well as other satellites.