Communications
Gonets- satellite were the civilian derivate of the military Strela-3 satellite system. The Gonets system was offered to support international health organizations to meet their global communications needs for the transfer of medical data and records to remote sites. Strela-3 was second generation of strategic store-dump military communications satellite. Development of this generation to replace the first generation Strela-1M and Strela-2M satellites began in 1973.
Orbital Attempt
#4,125
VKS Mission
#53
Pad Launch
#54
Location Launch
#1,485
Designator
1997-006
Feb 14, 1997, 3:47 AM
1 update
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.
Timezone
Europe/Moscow
Local Launch Time
Feb 14, 1997, 6:47 AM
Total Launches
1,686
Total Landings
0
Coordinates
62.9256, 40.5778
