Launch News Cobalt-M (Cosmos-2462) atop Soyuz-U on April 16, 2010

[SiberianTiger]

Launch site:
Plesetsk Launch pad no. 16/2 62°57'35.83"N, 40°40'56.22"E

Launch date: April 16, 2010

The anticipated launch time is:
18:50 through 19:10 Moscow Local 16.04.2010
2:50 p.m. though 3:10 p.m. UTC Apr 16, 2010
10:50 a.m. though 11:10 a.m. EDT Apr 16, 2010


Anticipated Payload: Cobalt-M photo film-returning reconnaissnace satellite

Target orbit: LEO ~300 km at 67°
Service Life: 60 to 120 days

Spacecraft: Cobalt-M (AKA Yantar-4K2M, Yantar means Amber)

Manufacturer: PLC Arsenal Machine Building Plant, St. Petersburg

The lifetime of Cobalt-M series film return recon satellites range from 60 to 120 days, after which time the return vehicle lands on Earth. The previous devices in the series worked since 2004 and was given Cosmos designations 2410, 2420, 2427 and 2445 (the 2410's RV was believed to be lost in the steppes of Orenburg upon landing never to be found).

The Cosmos-2450 was believed to be the last of Cobalt-M spacecrafts, but the upcoming launch indicates there have been more birds on the shelf.

Table of the recent Cobalt launches:

Cosmos #|NORAD #|Launched|Returned|Mission duration, days|Comments
2410|28396|Sep 24, 2004|Jan 9, 2005|107|Lost after landing
2420|29111|May 3, 2006|Jul 19, 2006|77|
2427|31595|Jun 7, 2007|Aug 22, 2007|76|
2445|33439|Nov 14, 2008|Feb 23, 2009|101|
2450|34871|Apr 29, 2009|Jul 27, 2009|89| See my thread

Launcher: Soyuz-U

|"Soyuz-U" unified middle-class launch vehicle is intended for injection of "Soyuz"-type and "Progress"-type manned and cargo spaceships into near-earth orbit, spacecraft for special purposes ("Kosmos"-series spacecraft), spacecraft for national economy ("Resurs-F"-type spacecraft), spacecraft for space technology research and spacecraft for medical and biological purposes ("Foton"-type and "Bion"-type spacecraft ), as well as foreign spacecraft. "Soyuz-U" launch vehicle can be equipped with nose fairing of the following diameters: 2,7; 3,0; 3,3; 3,7 m.

Manufacturer: Samara Space Centre

The vehicle's reliability statistics according to http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/reliability2010.txt:

================================================================ 
Vehicle     Successes/Tries Realzd Pred  Consc. Last     Dates    
                             Rate  Rate* Succes Fail    
================================================================
Soyuz-U         728   748    .97  .97     45    10/15/02 1973-

Launch Complex

The launch will be performed off LC 2 at site 16.

Weather forecast for Plesetsk, Russia on April 16, 2010

Hi: 6°
Lo: -1°
Mixture of precip. There is a 30% chance of precipitation. Cloudy. Cool. Temperature of 6°C. Winds SW 26km. Humidity will be 78% with a dewpoint of 3° and feels-like temperature of 2°C.

Sunrise/Sunset and associated twilight times for Plesetsk on Friday, April 16, 2010

Times are local.

Event|Time
Astronomical twilight begins|Never
Nautical twilight begins|03 : 40
Civil twilight begins|04 : 55
Sunrise|05 : 45
Transit (sun is at its highest)|13 : 18
Sunset|20 : 51
Civil twilight ends|21 : 41
Nautical twilight ends|22 : 56
Astronomical twilight ends|Never

Watching the launch live

Not available, sorry.

References
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com
http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru
http://space-track.org
http://www.russianspaceweb.com
www.svengrahn.pp.se
http://www.planet4589.org
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com
http://weatherbug.com
http://www.good-stuff.co.uk/suntimes/sunmap.php

 

[SiberianTiger]

Launched successfully at 15:00 UTC (roughly): http://rian.ru/science/20100416/223211683.html

---------- Post added 17-04-10 at 09:46 ---------- Previous post was 16-04-10 at 19:23 ----------

To honour a local tradition of Plesetsk, the satellite has been given a proper female name: Raisa Zakharovna.

upd: For those who are out of the contemporary Russian cultural context and are wondering, why I'm smiling, a name like this produces a mental image of a woman who is quite well in her years of maturity.

 

[SiberianTiger]

After July, 20 there were no TLE updates on the spacecraft. It can be therefore safely assumed that "Raisa Zakharovna" performed a landing, ending her 95 days long mission.