The 1665th flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle took place successfully on
Monday, November 26, 2001 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The
launcher lifted off on schedule at 11:23 p.m. Baikonur local time (07:23
p.m. in Paris), and the Progress spacecraft was accurately placed on the
target orbit. This was the 11th Soyuz mission in 2001 and the 69th
successful launch in a row associated with the Soyuz family of launchers. 10
of these 69 successes were human flights. It was also the second launch of
a Soyuz launch vehicle equipped with modernized engines in the first and
second stages.
Developed to meet the needs of the International Space
Station, this modernized version, which has been qualified in flight last
May, will also be used for Soyuz/ST. This new version of the Soyuz launch
vehicle, equipped with a larger fairing, is currently being developed on the
initiative of Starsem.
Soyuz sustained launch rate confirms its position as
one of the world’s primary launch vehicles. This rate also demonstrates
Samara Space Center’s continuous production capacity, as well as the
operational capability of launch teams at Baikonur under the authority of
the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.
Starsem is the Soyuz Company,
bringing together all key players involved in the production, operation and
international commercial marketing of the world’s most versatile launch
vehicle. Shareholders in Starsem are EADS (35%), the Russian Aviation and
Space Agency (25%), the Samara Space Center (25%) and Arianespace (15%). The
Starsem manifest for Soyuz missions currently includes contracted launches
for Space Systems/Loral, Alcatel Space Industries, the European Space Agency
and Eumetsat.
