Soyuz 2.1b • Ionosfera-M 3–4

Soyuz 2.1b • Ionosfera-M 3–4

A Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1b rocket will launch the second pair of Ionosfera-M satellites and probably multiple small sats on a rideshare mission. The rocket will fly in the Soyuz 2.1b configuration with a Fregat-M upper stage. - Ionosfera is a constellation of four ionospheric and magnetospheric research satellites developed by Roskosmos for the project Ionozond. The Ionosfera satellites will operate on circular sun-synchronous orbits (SSO), with a height of about 800km and located in two orbital planes (two satellites per plane). Satellites in each plane will be separated by an angle 180°±30°. One of the planes of the orbits is located in the plane of the Earth's terminator (Terminator subconstellation), and the second - at an angle of approximately 90° to the terminator (Meridian subconstellation). The sun pointed satellites weigh 430kg and are built for an 8 years orbital life. The spacecraft use an APPT-95M Ablative Pulse Plasma Thruster (APPT) for orbit correction propulsion system. - Moved forward from August. Delayed from June 17 and July 24.

📍 Site 1S - Vostochny Cosmodrome https://goo.gl/maps/PxFba5r6WJ3bRTf98

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