CRYOSAT

Mission

CRYOSAT

• Type: Planetary Science
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit

CryoSat-1 was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia on October 8, 2005, using a Rockot launcher. (Rockot is a modified SS-19 rocket which was originally an ICBM designed to deliver nuclear weapons, but which Russia is now eliminating in accordance with the START treaties.) According to Mr. Yuri Bakhvalov, First Deputy Director General of the Khrunichev Space Centre, when the automatic command to switch off the second stage engine did not take effect, the second stage continued to operate until it ran out of fuel and as a consequence the planned separation of the third (Breeze-KM) stage of the rocket which carried the CryoSat satellite did not take place, and would thus have remained attached to the second stage. The upper rocket stages, together with the satellite, probably crashed in the Lincoln Sea. Analysis of the error revealed that it was caused by faults in the programming of the rocket, which had not been detected in simulations.

Location

133/3 (133L)

Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

133/3 (133L) has witnessed the launch of 159 rockets, including 159 orbital launch attempts, while Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation, has been the site for 1667 rocket launches.

Rocket

Russian Aerospace Defence Forces Rokot/Briz-KM

Agency

Eurockot Launch Services

Eurockot Launch Services GmbH is a commercial spacecraft launch provider and was founded in 1995. Eurockot uses an expendable launch vehicle called the Rockot to place satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO). Eurockot is jointly owned by ArianeGroup, which holds 51 percent, and by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, which holds 49 percent. Eurockot launches from dedicated launch facilities at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.