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The Soyuz rocket was launched on Thursday, October 25th. Two weeks ago, astronauts aboard a Soyuz rocket were forced to land urgently due to a malfunction of the rocket shortly after takeoff. ( Russian Ministry of Defense )
Two weeks after a disastrous launch, the Soyuz capsule took flight to deliver a military intelligence satellite in orbit on Thursday, October 25.
The Soyuz-2.1 rocket took off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome with a Russian payload considered the fourth Lotos satellite. The rocket was launched at 3:15 Moscow time without a hitch.
Forced landing
The launch Thursday is the first in Russia since a Soyuz capsule carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station malfunctioned shortly after takeoff. Nick Hague, an American, and Alexey Ovchinin, a Russian, took off on October 11 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
However, before reaching the orbit, the two astronauts aboard the Soyuz capsule had to perform a ballistic descent, that is to say they had to descend to the ground at an acute angle that subjected them to a force G much bigger. While their descent was uncomfortable to say the least, the astronauts were saved and were not injured by the incident.
In response to this malfunction, the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos has opened an investigation into this incident. Since then, all Soyuz launches have been suspended.
The investigators did not publish an official report explaining the malfunction that caused the Soyuz to make an emergency landing two weeks ago. However, a Russian news agency said that officials suspected one of the rocket's first boosters was not properly connected to the core.
The Roscosmos investigation should end with a final report no later than October 30th.
The Soyuz launch scheduled for December by NASA
Space Flight Now has announced that new Soyuz rocket launches in November to deliver satellites into orbit could pave the way for a manned take-off by December. NASA is planning a launch on October 3rd to the ISS.
NASA's director, Jim Bridenstine, criticized the report "salacious" on the failed launch. He also assured that Roscosmos was transparent during the investigations.
"I have every confidence in the world that no one is in danger at this stage," he said. "I certainly do not want to jeopardize the relationship between Roscosmos and NASA."
Earlier this year, astronauts aboard the ISS also discovered a hole in one of the moored Soyuz capsules. This caused an air leak, but the hole has since been plugged without causing more serious damage.
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