Russia launches military communications satellite
Another launch from Baikonur was to take place this month; Soyuz of the French company Arianespace was supposed to launch 36 Internet satellites for the London company OneWeb on March 4.
But Russian federal space agency Roscosmos has demanded that OneWeb guarantee its satellites will not be used for military purposes and that the UK pull out of OneWeb, which it helped buy out of bankruptcy in 2020. These requirements were not met, and the Soyuz was removed from the site shortly before the start.
However, OneWeb has already found another way to launch its satellites. On Monday (March 21), the company announced that it had signed a launch agreement with SpaceX.
According to media reports, Russia has launched a military communications satellite.
A Soyuz rocket carrying the Meridian-M spacecraft, launched on March 22 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia, took off from the pad at 8:48 am EST (1248 GMT), according to the state news agency RIA Novosti. with reference to the Russian military.
“Satellites of the Meridian series provide communication for ships and ice reconnaissance aircraft in the area of the Northern Sea Route with coastal and ground stations,” writes RIA Novosti. “The devices also expand the capabilities of satellite communication stations in the northern regions of Siberia and the Far East.”