Eurockot Launch Services is preparing a modified Russian Rokot booster with a restartable Briz M upper stage for a launch from Plesetsk, on 30 June carrying eight micro- and nano-satellites. The Rokot,on its first sun-synchronous mission, will use a standardised multi-satellite dispenser.
A prime payload is the 66kg (145lb) Czech Micro Measurements of Satellite Acceleration spacecraft, to be deployed in an elliptical orbit. The other seven craft will be placed into sun-synchronous orbits, including the 51kg Canadian Space Agency Microvariability & Oscillations of Stars satellite, the second prime payload.
The secondary payloads include two Japanese student satellites and four craft from Canada's Nanosatellite Launch Systems, while a mock-up of a Russian Earth Monitor observation satellite will remain attached to the Briz upper stage. The Rokot booster is based on the Soviet SS-19 ballistic missile.
Eurockot has a backlog of six launches, including Japan's Servis 1 satellite this year and the launch of CryoSat into polar orbit in 2004.
Source: Flight International
