spacetoday.net: Dnepr launches cluster of small satellites

Posted: Thu, Apr 19, 2007, 8:08 AM ET (1208 GMT)
Dnepr launch (Kosmotras)

A converted Russian ICBM launched over a dozen small satellites for a variety of countries on Tuesday. The Dnepr rocketed lifted off from the BAikonur Cosmodrome at 2:46 am EDT (0646 GMT) Tuesday and placed the satellites into sun-synchronous orbits. The largest satellite on the Dnepr was EgyptSat-1, a 100-kilogram remote sensing lab built by Ukrainian company Yuzhnoye for the Egyptian government. Also on board the Dnepr were several small experimental communications and remote sensing satellites for Saudi Arabia and a number of kilogram-sized CubeSats, including a three-satellite system called MAST that will test tether technology. The launch was the first for a Dnepr since a July 2006 launch failure. However, two upcoming launches, of the TerraSAR-X remote sensing satellite and Bigelow Aerospace's Genesis 2 module, have been delayed until late May because of unspecified issues with the Dnepr.