This may be the first rocketcam imagery from a Soyuz launch; it’s certainly the first I’ve seen. This is from last week’s Sentinel 1A launch from Kourou, and it definitely gives a new perspective on the venerable R-7 rocket family. Strap-on booster jettison is particularly exciting from this angle.
Tag Archives: Sentinel 1A
If all goes well, there will be two rocket launches tomorrow. One will be from Kourou in French Guiana, a Soyuz launching over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver Sentinel 1A, the first element in a European environmental monitoring satellite constellation, into a polar orbit suitable for global mapping. The other launch will be an Atlas V from Vandenburg AFB in California, placing the latest Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite into orbit.
From SpaceflightNow: DMSP F19 launch information, and photos of the encapsulated spacecraft heading to the launchpad.
And for Sentinel 1A, spacecraft integration with the Fregat booster that sits atop the Soyuz rocket, and rollout to the pad. Looks just like a rollout at Baikonur, except for all the dense tropical vegetation around. 😉 There is one other distinction; at Baikonur, payloads are generally integrated with Soyuz in the rocket assembly hall, but at Kourou the Fregat and spacecraft are integrated in the assembly hall and then mated to the rocket only after it has been erected on the pad.