The first Neitron satellite will possibly be launched from Plesetsk on November or December 2018.
Cross-post re: July 30 launch of
Meridian #8; discussion starts
here with NOTMAR posting in launch thread.
As there is currently one functional Soyuz-2 LC at Plesetsk, then a
Neitron launch from Plesetsk, from the same LC, would be NET August.
***
Cross-post re: next Soyuz-2 launch from Plesetsk;
Meridian #8 or
Neitron #1:
Neitron is launching to a previous programme's orbit.
IF Neitron are radar reconnaissance satellites, THEN the inclination of their operational orbits should differ significantly from those of
Meridian satellites (approx. 65 deg.)?
And therefore, the coordinate areas of associated launch NOTAMs and NOTMARs would also differ accordingly?
What program's orbit (and perhaps functionality) could
Neitron be emulating?
Cross-post re: July 30 launch of Meridian #8; discussion starts here with NOTMAR posting in launch thread.
As there is currently one functional Soyuz-2 LC at Plesetsk, then a Neitron launch from Plesetsk, from the same LC, would be NET August.
***
Cross-post re: next Soyuz-2 launch from Plesetsk; Meridian #8 or Neitron #1:
Neitron is launching to a previous programme's orbit.
IF Neitron are radar reconnaissance satellites, THEN the inclination of their operational orbits should differ significantly from those of Meridian satellites (approx. 65 deg.)?
And therefore, the coordinate areas of associated launch NOTAMs and NOTMARs would also differ accordingly?
What program's orbit (and perhaps functionality) could Neitron be emulating?
Bumping this useful thread:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=45081.0
Cross-post re: next Soyuz-2 launch from Plesetsk; Meridian #8 or Neitron #1:
Neitron is launching to a previous programme's orbit.
IF Neitron are radar reconnaissance satellites, THEN the inclination of their operational orbits should differ significantly from those of Meridian satellites (approx. 65 deg.)?
And therefore, the coordinate areas of associated launch NOTAMs and NOTMARs would also differ accordingly?
What program's orbit (and perhaps functionality) could Neitron be emulating?
I'd like to echo that question. Is anything known yet about Neitron's orbit or mission objectives? To the best of my knowledge, nothing has leaked out about the satellite's payload. There are some indications it has the same bus as the Kondor radar reconnaissance satellites (more on that later), but the payload may very well be something else than a radar.
I don't think this NOTMAR is a good match for the drop zone NOTAM closest to Plesetsk for the launch of the second GEO-IK-2 (see attachment; from
this thread post).
Maybe? But see my reply
here.
Re: launch cadence. The most recent launch from Plesetsk 43/4 was on July 30 UTC. This is the sole Soyuz-2 pad available at Plesetsk.
Theoretically it is possible to recycle [the Soyuz-2] pad [43/4] in 10 days...
The launch of Neitron is planned for late August according to what appears to be an insider quoted in the Russian launch thread on the NK forum. See a post by a certain Dmitriy Gunin here:
https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/122633/#commentsHe adds that the launch is "much anticipated by an inner circle of people".
See
up-thread for Soyuz Plesetsk LC 43/4 minimum launch cadence discussion.
Given that, one can deduce that the
Neitron launch will be NET October 2019.
EDIT 9/26: Kosmos 2541 launched on September 26 UTC.
Cross-post re: availability of a second Soyuz-2 LC at Plesetsk:
I read that 43/3 is ready for use again.
Can anyone confirm this ?
It was forced to be ready.
Yes. Final adjustments during testing had to be made before the pad could be placed in active service.
The Russian launch schedule on the NK forum identifies the payload for the late January launch from Plesetsk as Neitron. However, I'm not sure if that is speculation or based on inside information.
Thread update:
Launch did not occur in January 2020, nor for the rest of 2020.
Perhaps 2021?
Thread update:
Launch did not occur in January 2020, nor for the rest of 2020.
Perhaps 2021?
Nothing new has surfaced on the status of Neitron since the update that I gave in the program thread last June:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=45081.0There were environmental impact assessment hearings at Plesetsk last spring for what was called "launches of product 14F01" in the 2020-2021 timeframe. Two satellite names have been associated with 14F01, namely Neitron and Tekhnolog. It is not entirely clear if these are two names for one and the same satellite or names for two different satellites, although the available evidence points to the latter. That would also explain the use of the plural ("launches").
All indications are that this is a one-off experimental mission (the exact purpose of which remains a mystery). That could be one of the reasons why it keeps getting bumped by launches of serially produced military satellites, which are considered to be of higher priority. However, technical issues undoubtedly also play a role in the delays.
The last we heard about this mission was in May 2020, when documentation appeared on zakupki.gov.ru saying that a "mock-up" of the engine unit of 14F01 had to be discarded because it had become contaminated with rocket fuel at Plesetsk. This raises a couple of questions, such as why a mock-up would be used for fueling tests. Perhaps it was a veiled way of saying that there was an accident with the
real engine unit of 14F01 and the mission has had to be canceled. Only time will tell.