Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat-M – Kosmos-2500 (GLONASS-M) – 14th June 2014 (1717UTC)

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Can someone confirm that the satellite will be named Kosmos-2500? 

[Artyom.]

Launch video - http://www.vesti.ru/only_video.html?vid=604468

[chewi]

Can someone confirm that the satellite will be named Kosmos-2500? 

yes, Aleksandr Golovko (commander of Russian Aerospace Defence Forces) said that it was jubilee satellite launch – 2500th military and "dual-use" spacecraft

[Artyom.]

Another video (amateur):

[input~2]

2 objects have been catalogued by USSTRATCOM

Object A 2014-032A/40001 in
19126 x 19154 km x 64.77° (presumably the S/C)
Object B 2014-032B/40002 in
19146 x 19500 km x 64.75° (presumably Fregat-M)

[Lewis007]

Another short video of the rocket on the pad.

http://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mire/content/201406140733-vc34.htm

[Nicolas PILLET]

Seen from the ISS !

https://twitter.com/Astro_Alex/media

[Chris Bergin]

And that made it interesting, so....

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/06/russian-glonass-launch-spotted-iss-crew/

[Satori]

The satellite is Kosmos-2500.

[Nicolas PILLET]

GLONASS website confirms that this new satellite is at position n°21.

http://glonass-iac.ru/GLONASS/

[Artyom.]

Better late than never 

Launch photo:

[JimO]

exact laubch time
http://www.sdcm.ru/smglo/news?month=6&year=2014&site=extern&repdate=8&version=rus


Adapted From Pillet, merci beaucoup:
Launch                    0      17:16:48
Separation of strap-ons      1'58“      17:18:46
Faring jettison                 2'45“      17:19:33
Second stage shut down      4'46“      17:21:34
Second Stage Separation       4'47"
Firing of Third Stage              4'52“      17:21:40
Shutdown of Third Stage      9'19“      17:26:07
Separation of upper segment   9'23“      17:26:11
Firing of SOZ motors              9'28“      17:26:16
First ignition of S5.92 stage         10'23“      17:27:11
Shutdown of S5.92            10'42“      17:27:30

What is "SOZ"?


timeline of Gerst's photos from camera megadata file
17:16:48     LAUNCH 

17:25:29    First image taken, thrusting
17:26:10    Thrusting appears to stop
17:26:17     Flare begins [? 9:28 MET?]
17:26:36     Flare continues. Last image

Astronaut captured very end of third stage burn and the separation motor firing, but not Fregat ignition

This video shows a VERY complex sequence of dynamic events that clearly needs to be thoroughly studied. It may overlap some or all of the Gerst still sequence




Also,  http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/forum/messages/forum12/topic14158/message1268517/#message1268517
“Yanus” website photos[unspecified time,  location], From interpretation of horizon lighting as western post-sunset, identification of flare as sep motor firing, and swagged ground track geometry, I’d guess northern Urals area

[Nicolas PILLET]

What is "SOZ"?

It is S5.221 orientation engines of Fregat upper stage. See section D of this page :

http://www.kosmonavtika.com/lanceurs/fregat/tech/fregat/fregat.html

[jcm]

What is "SOZ"?

It is S5.221 orientation engines of Fregat upper stage. See section D of this page :

http://www.kosmonavtika.com/lanceurs/fregat/tech/fregat/fregat.html

I think SOZ = Sistem Obespecheniya zapuska, Launch Provision System yes orientation engines but also for ullage, to make sure the prop from the
main burn is at the back of the tank
Similar to the SOZ ullage motors on Proton Blok D and the BOZ package (old RAE 'Platform') on Molniya Blok L
except that on Fregat they are not jettisoned.

[JimO]

Thanks for the good info. Does anybody have a Soyuz-Glonass ascent ground track out of Plesetsk, time-tagged -- it would help assess some of the videos and photos which do not specific observer location.

I also remain fascinated by the cloud seen in the Gerst images, below the pluming stage. I'm coming to postulate it could have been the early ascent climb-out contrail, viewed end-on from the ISS.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

The GLONASS-M satellite (#755) is now operational since August 2, replacing #725 in slot 21.

[fatjohn1408]

This is perhaps not the best topic for this question but, can somebody explain me the differences between all the current Soyuz versions?

Arianespace launches the Soyuz STA and Soyuz STA

Starsem (does it still launch) has in their user manual the Soyuz (okay) and the Soyuz/ST
Are these actually the Soyuz 2-1a and 2-1b?

The Soyuz 2-1v I know.

What do the Soyuz FG and Soyuz U consist of again?
Soyuz FG launches only to the station with either the fregat or the soyuz spacecraft?
Are they always launched by Khrunichev? 

Thanks if anyone can clear these or some of these questions up for me.

[edkyle99]

This is perhaps not the best topic for this question but, can somebody explain me the differences between all the current Soyuz versions?

This is my simplified interpretation, which may miss a few details.

Soyuz-U is the longest running currently-active variant.  It used four RD-107 (now uses an all-Russian equivalent named RD-117) powered strap-on boosters, an RD-108 (now RD-118) powered core stage, and an RD-0110 powered "Blok I" upper stage (called a 3rd stage by its manufacturer though a second stage in some descriptions of what is really a 2.5 stage rocket.)  Flying since 1973, this rocket still uses old-school analog avionics.  It goes to LEO exclusively these days, mostly with Progress ISS cargo spacecraft.

Soyuz-FG is essentially a Soyuz-U with upgraded RD-107A strap-on booster and RD-108A core engines.  It first flew in 2001.  It handles crewed Soyuz missions, but also hosted Fregat upper stages until recently.

Soyuz 2-1a is essentially a Soyuz-FG with updgraded digital avionics and with a slightly modified upper (Blok I) stage.  It first flew in 2004 or thereabouts.  It is flying for Russia and Arianespace, both with and without a Fregat upper stage.

Soyuz 2-1b is essentially a Soyuz 2-1a with a brand new, much more efficient Blok I upper stage engine - the staged-combustion RD-0124.  It first flew in 2006.  It is flying for Russia and Arianespace both with and without a Fregat upper stage.

Soyuz FG, 2-1a, and 2-1b use a restartable Fregat upper (Russia calls it a fourth) stage for higher energy missions.  When flying for Arianespace or Starsem and fitted with a 4.11 meter diameter fairing, these are also called "ST" variants.  Thus Soyuz ST-A is essentially a Soyuz 2-1a/Fregat flying from Kourou, and so on.

Russia's TsSKB Progress builds Soyuz rockets while NPO Lavochkin builds Fregat.  Starsem was a Russian-European joint venture established in 1996 to market the Soyuz launcher for commercial use.  I believe that it has essentially been outmoded by the Soyuz move to Kourou, though it still seems to be a going concern.

Russia is in the process of phasing out Soyuz-U and Soyuz-FG, but if the past is an indicator this will be a multi-year process.

 - Ed Kyle

[Nicolas PILLET]

It seems that Cosmos 2500 is experiencing some technical issue...

http://glonass-iac.ru/content/news/?ELEMENT_ID=1018