The first launch of a modified Proton-M carrier-rocket from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome is slated for April 9-10, mission control at Baikonur reported to Interfax-Kazakhstan.
The Proton-M rocket is to deliver an Ekran-M communications satellite into orbit, which was crafted in 1995 by the Reshetnev Scientific Production Association of Applied Mechanics (NPO PM, Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk region). The satellite will help to put an end to television broadcast interruptions in Siberian and Far Eastern regions in Russia.
The satellite’s high-pressure tanks will be filled with rocket fuel March 15-16.
Experts note that the Proton-M rocket differs from the former Proton-K modification by its new digital guidance system, which allows for fuel to burn up more completely and reduce to a minimum any environmental pollution. Furthermore, the carrier-rocket’s launch will much more precise, which will reduce the size of the area where the rocket’s second and third-stages will fall back to Earth.
The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center worked for five years to modernize the Proton carrier-rocket.
The Proton-M carrier-rocket was delivered to Baikonur in July of 2000. “A rocket pad rehearsal at the launch pad with imitation rocket fuel was conducted at the end of 2000. All defects and malfunctions revealed during the rehearsal have been dealt with, mission control reported.
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