Zenit to Launch AngoSat 1

A Russian-Ukrainian Zenit Booster is ready for its first launch in over two years on December 26, 2017 - tasked with carrying Angola's first communications satellite directly into Geostationary Orbit in an ascent mission lasting nearly nine hours. The mission is hoped to be Zenit’s resurrection as relations between the once-interconnected space industries of the two involved countries slowly mend.

Liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome is planned at 19:00 UTC on Tuesday and the two-stage Zenit will be in action for eight and a half minutes before the Fregat SB upper stage separates for a three-burn ascent into Geostationary Orbit. Separation of the 1,647-Kilogram satellite is expected at 3:54 UTC on December 27.