Soyuz-U Launches Russian Military Satellite

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Soyuz-U Launches Russian Military Satellite

The Starsem press release is reproduced below:

Success of the 1722nd launch of Soyuz

Evry, June 7, 2007

The 1722nd flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle was performed Thursday, June 7, 2007 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia at 10:00 p.m. Moscow time ( 8:00 p.m. , in Paris ).

Starsem, Arianespace and their Russian partners report that the governmental spacecraft was accurately placed on the target orbit.

This was the fifth Soyuz family mission in 2007. It came after the successful Starsem's launch on May 30, 2007 of four Globalstar telecommunications satellites, used to augment the current first-generation LEO (low earth orbit) satellite constellation.

With the introduction of the Soyuz at the Guiana Space Center (CSG), this famed Russian medium-class launch vehicle becomes an integral part of the European launcher fleet, together with the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and the lightweight Vega. To be offered to the commercial market, the Soyuz at CSG is Europe 's reference medium-class launch vehicle for governmental and commercial missions.

Starsem is the Soyuz Company, bringing together all key players involved in the production, operation and international commercial marketing of the world’s most versatile launch vehicle. Shareholders in Starsem are Arianespace, Astrium, the Russian Federal Space Agency and the Samara Space Center .
The Starsem manifest for Soyuz missions currently includes contracted launches for the European Space Agency, MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd and Globalstar LLC.

Source: Starsem Press Release