spacetoday.net: Rockot returns to flight with Gonets launch

Rockot returns to flight with Gonets launch

Posted: Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 9:42 AM ET (1342 GMT)
Russia's Rockot small launch vehicle returned to flight early Thursday with the successful launch of three military communications satellites. The Rockot booster lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 7:23 pm EDT Wednesday (2323 GMT Wednesday, 3:23 am Moscow time Thursday) carrying three small Gonets-D1M satellites. The rocket placed the satellites into orbital at an altitude of 1500 kilometers, where they join a network of such satellites for military communications. The launch is the first for the Rockot since January, when a problem with the rocket's upper stage placed a set of satellites into improper orbits, causing one to reenter.