Russia’s newest defence satellite EKS Kosmos-2510 successfully launched

Russia’s newest defence satellite dubbed as EKS Kosmos-2510 was successfully launched into space and has been placed into its dedicated orbit.
It was launched using Russian Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome which is a military facility in north-western Russia’s Arkhangelsk region.
After placing it in dedicated orbit, the control of satellite has been passed to the Titov Main Space Center of Russia’s Space Forces.
Key facts

• EKS Kosmos-2510 is early warning satellite and has been deployed as the first satellite in a new fleet of 10 EKS military satellites to be launched by 2018 to form new defence system to detect enemy missile heading towards Russian territory.
• It should be noted that EKS is a Russian acronym that translates to integrated space system. The EKS satellites fleet will replace Russia’s previous Oko early warning system which had its last satellite launch in 2012.

This successful launch marked the sixth consecutive space mission to lift off from Plesetsk in year 2015. It was the fourth launch using a Soyuz booster and overall 13th launch of the Soyuz rocket family in 2015.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2015