Aist 1 (RS 41)

Spacecraft nº:

Russian spacecraft nº:

Launch data: Designation  39492 / 13078C Launch date  28 Dec 2013 - 12:30 UT Launch site  Plesetsk, LC-43/4 Launch vehicle  Soyuz-2-1v/Volga Mission  Technology, Science Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  603 x 635 km Eccentricity   Inclination  82.4° Period  96.9 min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• Russia ended the year with the first launch of a new rocket, the Soyuz-2-1V. This new, lighter version of the Soyuz is a major redesign, abandoning the four side-mounted conical strapon boosters that were the R-7 family's trademark since the ICBM and Sputnik launches in 1957. The core stage's lower section has been slightly enlarged in diameter and a new propulsion system used - the main engine is the NK-33A based on the NK-33 first developed (but never used) for the N-1 moon rocket in the 1970s. (An Americanized version of the NK-33, the Aerojet AJ-26, is the main engine for Orbital's new Antares rocket). The Soyuz-2-1V second stage is the same Blok-I stage as the existing Soyuz-2-1B, with an RD-0124 engine. This first flight carries the optional Volga third stage, a low-thrust orbit positioning bus derived from a spy satellite propulsion system.
• Aist is a russian microsatellite developed by designed by a group of students, postgraduates and scientists of Samara Aerospace University in cooperation with TsSKB-Progress.
• The satellite will measure the geomagnetic field, test the new small space vehicle bus, test methods to decrease microaccelerations to a minimum level and measure micrometeoroids of natural and artificial origin.

Mission details:

• The inaugural launch of the Soyuz-2-1V on Dec 28, 2013 carried the Aist satellite and two SKRL-756 calibration spheres. These were deployed from a long cylindrical adapter attached to the Volga stage into a 599 x 625 km x 82.4 deg orbit. The Volga stage with its adapter was expected to be deorbited over the South Pacific. The Soyuz second stage was left in a 259 x 594 km x 82.4 deg orbit.

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