Content deleted Content added
Line 239:
[[Soyuz-2 (rocket)|Soyuz-2]] (also called the Soyuz-ST) is a Russian medium [[Payload (air and space craft)|payload]] launcher (ca. 3 metric tons to [[Geostationary transfer orbit|GTO]]) which was brought into ESA service in October 2011.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gVS89qN2Zk3D6jSMbJfn5Bc3SA4w | title = Russian rockets shipped for French Guiana launch | agency = [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] | date = 7 November 2009 | publisher = [[Google]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://en.rian.ru/science/20091107/156748574.html | agency = [[RIA Novosti]] | title = Russia ships Soyuz carrier rockets to Kourou spaceport | date = 7 November 2009}}</ref> ESA entered into a €340 million joint venture with the [[Russian Federal Space Agency]] over the use of the Soyuz launcher.<ref name=international-coop>{{cite web | title = Launchers Home: International cooperation | url = http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Launchers_Home/SEMCDI1PGQD_0.html | publisher = European Space Agency}}</ref> Under the agreement, the Russian agency manufactures Soyuz rocket parts for ESA, which are then shipped to French Guiana for assembly.
ESA benefits because it gains a medium [[Payload (air and space craft)|payload]] launcher, complementing its fleet while saving on development costs. In addition, the Soyuz rocket—which has been the Russian's space launch workhorse for some 40 years—is proven technology with a good safety record. Russia benefits in that it gets access to the Kourou launch site. Launching from Kourou rather than [[Baikonur]] will allow the Russians to almost double the Soyuz payload (3.0 tonnes vs. 1.7 tonnes to [[Geostationary transfer orbit|GTO]]), because of Kourou's closer proximity to the equator. Both agencies benefit from the long term strategic cooperation, which is also intended to enable future joint technology developments.
The maiden launch was on October 21, 2011, for two European space navigation satellites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/21/soyuz-rocket-launches-navigation-satellites |title=Soyuz rocket launches European navigation satellites into orbit|publisher=The Guardian |date=21 October 2011}}</ref> : three hours and 49 minutes after blast-off, the ESA announced that the two [[Galileo (satellite navigation)|Galileo]] [[Galileo (satellite_navigation)|IOV-1 & IOV-2]] satellites had successfully reached their final orbit 23,222 kilometres above Earth, and that their launch had been a complete success.
| |||