I recently downloaded a very fun app on my cell phone. This app (Next Spaceflight) is basically a launch schedule for rockets and spaceflights around the world. It will notify you when a rocket is launching, and will provide you with many interesting insights, such as information about the rockets launching, what rockets launched on the day years ago, and what rockets are scheduled to launch in the future.
Today, the Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat successfully launched from Site 1S, Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia at 7:26am EST. This rocket cost twenty-four million dollars, and stands at a height of forty-two meters. Its purpose is to join other satellites to become part of OneWeb’s high-speed internet constellation. OneWeb plans to have coverage for people around the world by 2022 or 2023.
Interestingly enough, there were two other launches originating in Russia that happened fifty years ago today! The cosmos 388 and 389 were launched from Site 133/3 and Site 41/1 in the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, respectively. The Cosmos 388 was launched in at 4:39am EST. It stood at a hight of 31 meters. The Cosmos 389 was launched at 11:15am EST.
This day – December 18th – has had many launches – at least twenty, in fact! Six of these launches were from Russia, five from the USA, four from France, three from Kazakhstan, and one from Japan. Only one of the twenty-one launches over the years failed – GPS-7. GPS-7 was launched from California in 1981 at 8:10pm EST.
This is honestly such a fun app for those who find rockets, spaceships, and the like interesting! I found the history of launches for December 18th quite interesting, and hope you did as well! Until next post! 🙂