Geo-IK-2 will conduct high precision geodesic measurements to improve our understanding and models of the earth. Using GLONASS for accurate positioning data, the 1400kg satellite will operate in a 1000km polar orbit.
Mission media
Watch the launch.
Старт ракеты-носителя с военным спутником «Гео-ИК-2» с космодрома Плесецк
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile, it also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches, especially the Molniya orbits, so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location, with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR. With the end of the Soviet Union, Baikonur became a foreign territory, and Kazakhstan charged $115 million usage fees annually. Consequently, Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s.
