Photo: Roscosmos
RD-107А/108А rocket engines manufactured by Samara-based UEC-Kuznetsov of United Engine Corporation ensured successful start of Soyuz-2.1b space rocket with Fregat booster and Arktika-M No.2 satellite for weather conditions monitoring in the Arctic Region. The power plants worked without any failures.
The launch took place at 12:17 Moscow time on 16 December, 2023, from launch complex No.31 at Baikonur Cosmodrome. UEC-Kuznetsov’s engines installed on Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle stages I and II worked satisfactorily.
UEC-Kuznetsov service center personnel controlled power unit operation at the cosmodrome and rocket launch preparation, installed and tested all engine support systems.
Arktika-M No.2 is designed to provide weather conditions monitoring in the Arctic Region and adjacent areas, heliogeophysical monitoring in the near-Earth space environment, retransmission of signals from emergency locator radio beacons of COSPAS-SARSAT international satellite-aided search and rescue system and of information from automatic data acquisition instrumentation platforms of the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, including those located in the Arctic Region.
