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Soyuz launches Gonets trio, secret cargo
Russian military personnel at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome launched a new one trio of Gonets-M satellites on a Soyuz-2-1b rocket in the early hours of December 3, 2020. It is the second Soyuz missile mission to reconstitute Russia’s low-orbit communications constellation in less than two months. However, uLike the previous launch on September 28, this time there were no commercial payloads for hitchhikers aboard the rocket. Instead, an unidentified military satellite was carried on the shoulders with the main payload.
The Soyuz rocket for the second Gonets-M mission likely appeared in footage released by Russian TV during a visit by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Plesetsk on November 17, 2020.
The 17th Gonets-M mission at a glance:
| Payload |
Gonets-M no. 30, 31, 32 and secondary payloads
|
| Launch the vehicle | |
| Payload fairing |
14S737 |
| Launch site | |
| Launch date and time |
3 December 2020, 04:14: 36.491 Moscow time |
Preparations for the launch
During the 17th launch of the Gonets-M satellites, the Soyuz-2-1b / Fregat rocket is expected to carry three Gonets-M satellites with production numbers 30, 31 and 32 for the 12-bird Gonets-D1M personal communications constellation developed in ISS Reshetnev based in Zheleznogorsk, Russia.
It will be the second Gonets-M mission launched on the Soyuz rocket, after the passage of the launches from the now defunct Rockot booster.
In mid-2020, ISS Reshetnev announced that Soyuz’s second launch with the Gonets trio was scheduled for November or December of the same year. In early September 2020, the company said the three satellites for the mission had been removed from storage and had undergone electrical testing in preparation for shipment to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome later that month. At that point, the launch date was reduced to November 16, 2020. In early October, ISS Reshetnev reported that it had shipped the trio of satellites to Plesetsk with plans to launch them in late November 2020. In early November, Reshetnev said the satellites were being integrated with their upper stage (Fregat), followed by integrated electrical controls.
On November 17, 2020, the Russian military announced that during a visit by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome (earlier that day), it had reviewed the preparation of the Soyuz-2 rocket for takeoff scheduled for 24 November. The moment when the preparation of the rocket for launch on the launch pad was entering its final phase, the Ministry of Defense said, citing Col. General Sergei Surovkin, Commander of the Russian Air and Space Forces, VKS. Normally, Soyuz rockets are fired on the launch pad two to three days before their intended takeoff.
On November 18, ISS Reshetnev confirmed that the integrated electrical controls of the satellites and their upper stage had entered the final stage and the installation of the payload fairing would take place in the near future.
The launch was set for November 24, 2020 at 05:12:15 Moscow time with the possibility of a second attempt available approximately 24 hours later. However, on November 21, just before the rocket’s planned launch on the pad, the electrical controls revealed a problem in one of the communication channels of the level control system, SKU, main stage supply monitoring and one of the booster straps. on, an industry source said. The necessary replacements should have taken around 10 days and should have postponed the launch until December 3. Once the replacements were completed, the rocket was launched on the launch pad on the morning of November 30, 2020. The take-off was rescheduled for 04:14:36 Moscow time on December 3, 2020 (20:14 EST on 2 December), as usual with an option for a 24 hour delay.
Soyuz launch profile with Gonets-M satellites
A Soyuz-2-1b rocket carrying a trio of Gonets satellites took off as scheduled on December 3, 2020, at 04:14: 36.491 Moscow time from Pad No. 3 at Plesetsk site 43.
Under a standard Soyuz / Fregat vehicle launch profile, the rocket’s first, second and third stages accelerated the Fregat fourth stage and its payload to near-orbital speed as it flew over the Arctic Ocean.
Several minutes after the planned take-off, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the mission was carrying a trio of Gonets, but also revealed the presence aboard a previously unidentified military satellite. The Russian military also said ground resources began tracking the vehicle at 04:16 Moscow time. The separation of the Fregat upper stage from the third stage of the launch vehicle took place as planned at 04:24 Moscow time, the Defense Ministry said.
The Fregat will then operate its main engine to enter an initial orbit, followed by a passive flight period before the final maneuver to reach the destination orbit.
Gonets-M satellites are normally delivered in an orbit of 1,400 kilometers with an inclination of 82.5 degrees towards the equator. According to a message on the Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum, the fourth spacecraft was due to separate from the Fregat just over six minutes after the release of the Gonets trio.
After the release of its payloads, the Fregat upper stage is usually programmed to perform additional maneuvers to enter a disposal trajectory.
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