Russia launched two extra navy satellites to orbit on Friday (Oct. 21), persevering with a busy spaceflight stretch for the nation.
A Soyuz-2-1v rocket lifted off from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia Friday at 3:20 p.m. EDT (1920 GMT; 10:20 p.m. Moscow time), carrying two categorized payloads to orbit.
“In line with unofficial posts on the Novosti Kosmonavtiki net discussion board, the rocket was anticipated to ship a pair of new-generation navy satellites designated 14F164 and 14F172,” Anatoly Zak wrote on RussianSpaceWeb.com (opens in new tab).
“These indexes weren’t related to publicly recognized initiatives,” Zak added, “leaving the supposed mission of the satellites unclear on the eve of the launch.”
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Astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Middle for Astrophysics, speculated on Twitter (opens in new tab) Friday that the payloads could also be “an experimental pair of navy satellites, probably to check out satellite inspection strategies.”
Russia is seemingly no stranger to inspection tech. Its Kosmos 2558 spacecraft launched on Aug. 1 to an orbit similar to that of an American spy satellite known as USA 326, drawing condemnation from U.S. military officials.
Friday’s liftoff was the fourth for Russia within the final 12 days. A Soyuz launched a GLONASS navigation satellite from Plesetsk on Oct. 9, a Proton rocket carried a communications satellite to orbit for the Angolan authorities on Oct. 12 from the Russia-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and an Angara rocket launched the small, mysterious EMKA-3 military satellite from Plesetsk on Oct. 15.
And extra Russia liftoffs are coming within the subsequent few days. A Soyuz is scheduled to launch three Goniets communications satellites and an illustration broadband craft from Vostochny Cosmodrome on Saturday (Oct. 22), and one other Soyuz is slated to ship a robotic Progress cargo spacecraft towards the International Space Station from Baikonur on Tuesday (Oct. 25).
Mike Wall is the writer of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a e-book in regards to the seek for alien life. Observe him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
