Molniya-1T 88
Molniya-M 2BL
Progress Rocket Space Center
Mission
Molniya-1T 88
- Type: Communications
- Orbit: Elliptical Orbit
Military communications satellite in a highly elliptic orbit
Location
43/4 (43R)
Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation
43/4 (43R) has witnessed the launch of 323 rockets, including 323 orbital launch attempts. While Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation, has been the site for 1672 rocket launches.
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile, it also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches, especially the Molniya orbits, so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location, with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR. With the end of the Soviet Union, Baikonur became a foreign territory, and Kazakhstan charged $115 million usage fees annually. Consequently, Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s.
Rocket
Russian Space Forces Molniya-M 2BL
Agency
Progress Rocket Space Center
Progress Rocket Space Centre, formerly known as TsSKB-Progress, is a space science and aerospace research company which is known for manufacturing launch vehicles and satellites. Most notably, Progress Rocket Space Centre is the manufacturer of Soyuz launch vehicles.