Follow the key events of the Soyuz rocket’s ascent into orbit from the Guiana Space Center with four broadband communications satellites for O3b Networks.
Date source: Arianespace
T-0:00:03: Engines at Full Thrust
The five main engines of the Soyuz rocket’s core stage and four strap-on boosters are at full thrust.
T+0:00:00: Liftoff
Producing more than 900,000 pounds of thrust, the Soyuz 2-1b rocket soars into the sky from the Guiana Space Center.
T+0:01:58: Jettison Boosters
The Soyuz rocket’s four strap-on boosters, each powered by an RD-107A engine, are jettisoned after consuming their propellant.
T+0:03:58: Jettison Fairing
The ST-type payload fairing is released from the Soyuz rocket when it reaches the edge of the upper atmosphere. The 13.5-foot-diameter fairing protects the payload during the launch countdown and the flight through the dense lower atmosphere.
T+0:04:48: Core Stage Separation
Having burned its propellant, the core stage of the Soyuz rocket, also known as the second stage, separates and the third stage’s RD-0124 engine ignites to continue the flight.
T+0:09:23: Soyuz/Fregat Separation
The Soyuz rocket’s third stage releases the Fregat-MT upper stage just shy of orbital velocity.
T+0:10:23: First Fregat Ignition
The hydrazine-fueled Fregat upper stage ignites to place the O3b satellites in a low-altitude parking orbit.
T+0:14:19: First Fregat Shutdown
The Fregat upper stage shuts down to begin a coast phase. The Fregat and O3b satellites should now be in an orbit with a high point of 141 miles, a low point of 95 miles and an inclination of 5.15 degrees.
T+0:22:50: Second Fregat Ignition
The Fregat stage’s main engine fires for a second time to boost the O3b satellites into a transfer orbit.
T+0:31:22: Second Fregat Shutdown
After a 8-minute, 32-second burn, the Fregat upper stage shuts down to begin an 81-minute coast phase.
T+1:52:25: Third Fregat Ignition
The Fregat main engine ignites a third time to place the O3b satellites into a circular equatorial orbit.
T+1:57:27: Third Fregat Shutdown
The third Fregat burn ends after injecting the satellites in a 4,865-mile-high orbit.
T+2:00:46: First Spacecraft Separation
Spacecraft no. 2 and spacecraft no. 4 separate from a dispenser on the Fregat upper stage.
T+2:22:27: Second Spacecraft Separation
After the Fregat’s control thrusters move the rocket away from the two O3b satellites already deployed, spacecraft no. 1 and spacecraft no. 3 separate from a dispenser on the Fregat upper stage. The Fregat engine will fire again later to move the upper stage into a graveyard orbit.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday evening, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Intelsat 35e communications satellite into orbit 32 minutes later.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will go from Cape Canaveral to low Earth orbit in 10 minutes Friday with a Dragon capsule heading for the International Space Station carrying more than 4,800 pounds of supplies and experiments.
Flying for the 10th time from a tropical launch facility along the South American coastline, a Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off Dec. 18 and streaked through partly sunny skies with four satellites to extend the reach of the O3b Networks, a company founded to bring broadband to the world’s most remote and impoverished countries.
