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Russia’s Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with OneWeb satellites delivered to launch pad

According to Roscosmos, the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket launch is scheduled for April 25

MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket, loaded with British OneWeb communications satellites, has been delivered to a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, the press service of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos announced in a statement on Thursday.

"Based on the reports on the rocket and ground infrastructure preparation, the State Commission members decided to roll out the space rocket from the assembly and testing facility and verticalize it at the launch complex on April 21, 2021," the statement reads.

"The rollout to the launch site is scheduled at 22:00 UTC, after that Roscosmos subsidiaries specialists will begin working in accordance with the first launch day schedule," the Russian space agency reported. "Today, the launch complex is being prepared to receive the space rocket."

According to Roscosmos, "The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket launch with the Fregat upper stage and a batch of 36 OneWeb satellite company spacecraft is scheduled for April 25, 2021 at 22:14 UTC."

"This will be the third fully commercial launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, implemented by the French company Arianespace for OneWeb from this cosmodrome," the statement from the Russian space agency reads.

The first six OneWeb satellites were orbited by a Soyuz-ST carrier rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana on February 28, 2019. Another 34 satellites were delivered into outer space on February 7, 2020 and the same amount on March 21 from the Baikonur spaceport.

Head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin told TASS in late March that all of 36 OneWeb communications satellites, which were launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome atop a Russian Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket were successfully delivered into the designated orbits with the help of the rocket’s Fregat booster.

OneWeb satellites were launched from the Vostochny spaceport for the first time in December 2020. A total of 36 space vehicles were put into orbit. Overall, the UK company intends to deliver around 600 satellites into a near-Earth orbit.

OneWeb’s renewed agreement with the French Arianespace that acts as the launch operator stipulates the lift-off of 16 Russian Soyuz carrier rockets from the Kourou, Vostochny and Baikonur spaceports in 2020-2022. Each launch allows orbiting 34-36 OneWeb satellites.

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