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Russian carrier rocket puts U.S. satellite into orbit
RIA Novosti ^ | 14/ 08/ 2005

Posted on 08/14/2005 2:59:00 PM PDT by Lessismore

MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian carrier rocket Soyuz-FG, launched from the Baikonur space center on the night of August 13-14, put the U.S. Galaxy-14 satellite into orbit, a spokesman for the Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos) said Sunday.

"The spacecraft separated from the Russian acceleration unit, reached its calculated orbit and was placed under the control of the U.S. customer," the spokesman said.

The Galaxy-14 telecommunications satellite will receive and transmit commercial TV signals across the U.S. territory and provide Internet-services. It will be a part of the space satellite grouping of the U.S. PanAmSat Corporation.

Orbital Science Corporation developed the Galaxy-14 spacecraft on the basis of the modern Star-2 satellite platform. The satellite weights 2,086 kilograms and will operate in the geo-stationary orbit for at least 15 years.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Russia
KEYWORDS: jointexercises; satellite
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1 posted on 08/14/2005 2:59:00 PM PDT by Lessismore
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To: Lessismore
Nastrovya!
or something like that.
2 posted on 08/14/2005 3:00:51 PM PDT by starfish923
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To: Lessismore

If I am not mistaken, we are incapable of doing this.


3 posted on 08/14/2005 3:03:10 PM PDT by bnelson44 (Proud parent of a tanker!)
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To: bnelson44

Actually Boeing and Lockheed make lots of rockets, which launch all of our classified birds. Its just that for commercial payloads, the Russians are a lot cheaper.


4 posted on 08/14/2005 3:10:37 PM PDT by happyathome
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To: RightWhale; Brett66; xrp; gdc314; anymouse; RadioAstronomer; NonZeroSum; jimkress; discostu; ...

5 posted on 08/14/2005 3:11:31 PM PDT by KevinDavis (the space/future belongs to the eagles --> http://www.cafepress.com/kevinspace1)
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To: bnelson44

I think the Boeing Delta IV can do this -- but not as cheaply as the Russians.


6 posted on 08/14/2005 3:14:45 PM PDT by Lessismore
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To: bnelson44
we are incapable of doing this

Atlas or Delta or Ariane could do this, but the cost of launch rules in favor of Russian and Chinese launchers. It's just business.

7 posted on 08/14/2005 3:16:39 PM PDT by RightWhale (Withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and open the Land Office)
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To: RightWhale

Thought it was too heavy for a Delta


8 posted on 08/14/2005 3:18:04 PM PDT by bnelson44 (Proud parent of a tanker!)
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To: Lessismore

aint that sweet....

good grief, wth has happened to America!


9 posted on 08/14/2005 3:24:11 PM PDT by Texas_Conservative2
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To: bnelson44

I don't have the throw weight tables right at hand, but all of these launchers have a range of configurations. The core is just for starters, the second and other upper stages have a wide range of options, and the strap-ons make the series practically unlimited. The Soyuz weighed under 1 million pounds at liftoff and that is much less that the Space Shuttle. Delta may be the smallest, not small at all compared to the old Delta IRBM namesake, of them, but it makes up for that by the native efficiency of hydrogen-oxygen fuel.


10 posted on 08/14/2005 3:25:47 PM PDT by RightWhale (Withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and open the Land Office)
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To: RightWhale

What is the Russian's best capacity in terms of weight lifting on their launchers, especially as compared to the SHuttle?

Any help would be appreciated in finding a reliable source as many of my googles seem to bring up enthusiastic sites which colour their decisions by patriotism rather than cold hard engineering facts.

Thanks!


11 posted on 08/14/2005 3:38:32 PM PDT by Androcles (All your typos are belong to us)
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To: Androcles

The Soyuz is the big one. About 1/7 the Space Shuttle. I don't know that NASA really needs to launch city busses, but they can. Their Shuttle follow on will be able to launch the entire manned Mars mission in one bundle if they go for the full size BDB.


12 posted on 08/14/2005 3:43:08 PM PDT by RightWhale (Withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and open the Land Office)
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To: Androcles

Somebody could probably produce a table of launch capability versus launch vehicle if they felt like taking the time. LEO, geosynch and earth escape would be the most useful numbers. Cost of launch might be interesting, too.


13 posted on 08/14/2005 3:45:06 PM PDT by RightWhale (Withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and open the Land Office)
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To: RightWhale

Many thanks!


14 posted on 08/14/2005 3:45:59 PM PDT by Androcles (All your typos are belong to us)
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To: Texas_Conservative2

America is waisting too much money on the space shuttle. Conventional rockets are cheaper and safer.


15 posted on 08/14/2005 5:28:42 PM PDT by jbstrick (insert clever tagline here)
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To: RightWhale

Wikipedia page on Delta IV. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_IV_rocket
This indicates 6.275 kgm to geosynchronous orbit for the "heavy" version, and it doesn't appear that the the "heavy" has flown successfully yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Space_launch_vehicles is the index page for Space Launch Vehicles.


16 posted on 08/14/2005 6:32:48 PM PDT by Lessismore
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To: happyathome; bnelson44

In other words, you're mistaken.


17 posted on 08/14/2005 7:42:25 PM PDT by Frank_Discussion (May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
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To: bnelson44
Thought it was too heavy for a Delta.

No way, this is a tiny communications satellite by all standards. Last week we launched our iPSTAR satellite weighing 6,486 kg, happened to be on an Ariane 5. The smallest Delta IV handles 4,100 kg, the largest Delta IV Heavy handles 12,600 kg. The Atlas V series handles 5,100 to 8,900 kg with a Heavy version planned at 12,000 kg.

As another poster said, it's purely business. International Launch Services (ILS) (a Lockheed-affiliated company) markets both Atlas and the Russian Proton. Sea Launch (owned by, among others, Boeing) markets the Zenit vehicle and launches it from the middle of the Pacific. Those vehicles are cheaper per unit throw weight and have a capability that's right for most commercial spacecraft launches. But for the really big spacecraft you will need an Atlas V or Delta IV.

18 posted on 08/14/2005 8:56:18 PM PDT by SFConservative
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To: RightWhale; Androcles
The best, and politically neutral, is Mark Wade's Encyclopedia Astronautica. It has so much info that it can be a bit intimidating to navigate at first, but it's all there.
19 posted on 08/14/2005 9:01:18 PM PDT by SFConservative
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To: SFConservative

Very much obliged - I can see it deserves a good look! Saved for later reading. Cheers,
Androcles


20 posted on 08/14/2005 9:45:54 PM PDT by Androcles (All your typos are belong to us)
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