A European environmental satellite launched Tuesday from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome to begin a mission of at least seven years measuring the height, color and temperature of the world’s oceans. The Sentinel 3A spacecraft lifted off aboard a Rockot booster at 1757 GMT (12:57 p.m. EST).
Russian rocket technicians fueled a decommissioned ballistic missile with propellants Monday, a day ahead of the launch of a European satellite primed to observe the planet’s oceans.
Europe’s Sentinel 3A satellite, designed for real-time surveys of the world’s oceans, ice sheets, lakes and rivers, is attached to a decommissioned Russian nuclear missile for launch Tuesday. These photos show the spacecraft’s final prelaunch preparations.
Three Russian military satellites arrived in orbit Wednesday after taking off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome aboard a Rockot launch vehicle, a decommissioned ballistic missile modified for space applications.
Three small satellites launched from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmdorome into a 930-mile-high orbit Tuesday, flying into space aboard a Rockot launcher to relay emails, technical data and other messages between remote users.