Launch at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
The Plesetsk cosmodrome is part of the aerospace defense (ASD) troops now being created. In the course of the reform, space tracking stations in Norilsk and Naryan-Mar, the testing ground in Kamchatka and Baikonur were recently attributed to it. On November 3, a joint calculation of the Strategic Missile Forces and the East Kazakhstan region launched the Topol ICBM, produced by 6713 a year ago, to the Kura battlefield (up to Kamchatka from the launch point - 23 kilometers) Prior to that, she managed 20 years to stand on duty in the Nizhny Tagil missile compound, and then lie down in the arsenal (guaranteed by the manufacturer, the life of the Topolis - 10 years). This launch was carried out to extend the service life for another year (photo and text: Sergey Osipov)
Topol got to the starting point, wrung out on jacks, before the start of 1 a minute.
Raised the transport and launch container (TPK) with a rocket, before the launch of 30 seconds.
A second after the launch, the rocket is still on the jet.
After 4 seconds, it began to deviate noticeably to the right - apparently, Kamchatka is located there.
... And from it will only smoke plume. Six seconds after the start.
Startup calculation - more than 50 people. Among them are local from East Kazakhstan, but most - from Yoshkar-Ola. It is clearly seen how the upper part of the WPC burned.
Secret Photo. Those who served as 30 rocket, 40, and even 50 years ago will say right away that in their time the “secret suitcase” looked exactly the same!
In the lieutenant colonel’s left hand in the center is a cable that held the head fairing of the TPC. According to the old tradition, after its launch, it is handed over to those who implemented it. The commander of the calculation squeezes the steel cable, as if it were the umbilical cord of his first child.
And here is the cover of the TPK.
Cable-mast on the Angara universal launch complex under construction. In 2013, the Plesetsk should begin launches of these new launch vehicles.
From the Angar launching table they will launch heavy, medium and light carriers. Heavy can even carry cargo from the Far North to the geostationary orbit.
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