Rockot – Spaceflight Now

Long March, Soyuz and Falcon rockets topped 2019’s launch leaderboard

January 2, 2020 Stephen Clark

China led the world with 34 orbital launch attempts in 2019 — including two failures — followed by 22 flights from Russian-operated launch pads and 21 satellite delivery missions originating from U.S. spaceports, all of which were successful.

Russia retires Rockot launcher after liftoff with four satellites

December 27, 2019 Stephen Clark

The final flight of Russia’s Rockot launcher took off Thursday and placed four satellites into orbit nearly 1,000 miles above Earth, ending a run of 31 launches since May 2000.

Russian military satellite orbited by Rockot launcher

August 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

A geodetic surveying satellite for the Russian military successfully launched Friday aboard a Rockot booster — a modified ballistic missile — from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

Rockot launches Russian military satellites

November 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Rockot booster and Breeze upper stage delivered three Russian military communications satellites to orbit Friday after a launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome around 500 miles north of Moscow.

Photos: Modified Russian ballistic missile blasts off with European satellite

April 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

Check out photos of Wednesday’s launch of a Russian Rockot booster, derived from a decommissioned Soviet-era nuclear missile, with Europe’s Sentinel 3B Earth observation satellite.

European environmental observer launched by Russian rocket

April 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

A new European satellite carrying instruments to track changes in the world’s oceans, measure receding ice sheets and chart vegetation growth climbed into orbit Wednesday on top of a Russian Rockot launcher.

Photos: Sentinel 3B satellite prepared for launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome

April 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Sentinel 3B environmental satellite was shipped to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia’s far northern Arkhangelsk region in March for a month-long campaign to prepare the spacecraft for liftoff aboard a Rockot launcher.

Live coverage: Europe’s next environmental sentinel lifts off

April 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

A European environmental satellite designed to monitor Earth’s oceans, lakes and vegetation lifted off Wednesday aboard a modified Russian ballistic missile originally built to carry nuclear warheads. The mission launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome around 500 miles north of Moscow at 1757:51 GMT (1:57:51 p.m. EDT).

Photos: Converted Russian ballistic missile fires into space with satellite

October 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

A decommissioned missile originally built in Russia to deliver nuclear weapons to intercontinental targets in the United States vaulted out of a vertical canister Friday and fired into space with a European satellite to monitor global air pollution.

Modified Russian missile boosts Europe’s newest environmental sentinel to space

October 13, 2017 Stephen Clark

A European satellite that will collect daily air quality measurements over every major city on Earth rode an uprated Russian ballistic missile into orbit Friday.