A Russian Rockot Booster – a converted UR-100N ballistic missile topped by a Briz-KM upper stage – will launch the GEO-IK-2 No. 3 Geodesy satellite for the Russian Ministry of Defence as part of a series of high-precision geodesy missions. Geodesy finds use in scientific studies looking at tectonic plate movements, gravitational properties and ocean currents, but is also needed in a number of military applications. Knowledge of Earth’s gravitational field can feed into guidance of ballistic missiles to adjust their trajectories based on gravitational parameters to make them more accurate.

GEO IK-2 No.3 is the third in Russia’s third generation of geodetic satellites in a program dating back to the 1980s. Initially, GEO IK-2 was to consist of heavy satellites launched from Plesetsk by the Zenit rocket, but the fall of the Soviet Union brought an untimely end to the program. In the early 1990s, a new satellite design was submitted, suited for launch atop the Soyuz 2 rocket, though funding woes ended the effort in 1997.

Mission Resources:

? Launch Vehicle Overview: Rockot

? Payload Overview: GEO-IK-2 No. 3

☂ Launch Weather

?Launch Site Schedule