A Russian Cosmos 3M booster carried a military navigation satellite into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on 17 April without its commercial payload, the US-built Faisat 2V.
Polyot, of Omsk, Siberia which markets the Cosmos for commercial launches, had failed to produce the necessary documentation to the Russian Military Space Forces. The launch of the experimental Faisat 2V will be delayed .
The Faisat is to be one of a planned constellation of 32 low-Earth-orbiting satellites operated by Final Analysis of Lanham, Maryland, which is marketing the planned $60 million data-relay satellite system.
Source: Flight International
