The 1734th flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle was performed Saturday, July 26, 2008 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia at 10:31 pm Moscow time (08:21 pm Paris time).
Arianespace and its Russian partners report that the governmental spacecraft was accurately placed on the target orbit. This was the fifth Soyuz family mission in 2008.
This mission was marked by the seamless use of the next generation evolved Soyuz launch vehicle featuring a more powerful third-stage engine, a digital control system and a 4.1 m ST fairing.
With the introduction of Soyuz at the Guiana Space Center (CSG), this famed Russian medium-class launch vehicle will become an integral part of the European launch vehicle fleet, together with the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and the lightweight Vega.
To be offered exclusively by Arianespace to the commercial market, the Soyuz in French Guiana is Europe's reference medium-class launch vehicle for governmental and commercial missions.
