ESA's Galileo navigation satellites launched on Russian rocket from Guiana Space Center
MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax-AVN) - Two European Galileo FOC navigation satellites were launched on board the Russian launch vehicle Soyuz-ST-B coupled with a Fregat-MT upper stage from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou, French Guiana, on Friday, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) told Interfax-AVN.
"The launch took place at 4:27 p.m. Moscow time on August 22," it said.
The launch was originally scheduled for August 21 but was postponed to a reserve date due to adverse weather conditions at the launching area.
After reaching their orbit, the satellites will be named Doresa and Milena.
The first stage was to separate two minutes after the lift-off, the second stage at the end of the fourth minute, and the third stage was to separate from the upper stage nine and a half minutes into the flight. All of them were to drop into the Atlantic Ocean (the third one near the French and Spanish coasts).
The Fregat-MT upper stage is to fire its engines twice to put the satellite into their orbits. The satellites are to separate from the upper stage at 8:15 p.m. Moscow time on Friday.
The Galileo global navigation satellite system currently includes four satellites. Their number should grow to 18 by 2016 and to 30 by 2020.
The Soyuz/Guiana Space Center project has been implemented under an agreement signed between the governments of Russia and France in November 2003.