Video: Zenit Blasts Off with Angola’s 1st Communications Satellite
A Russian-Ukrainian Zenit rocket lifted off from Site 45/1, Baikonur Cosmodrome at 19:00:03 UTC on December 26, 2017, carrying into orbit the AngoSat 1 communications satellite for the Angolan Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology. Marking the first Zenit launch in over two years, Tuesday’s mission is hoped to be the resurrection of the venerable Zenit booster after years of uncertainty surrounding the vehicle as relations between Russia and the Ukraine deteriorated. AngoSat 1 was successfully delivered into Geostationary Drift Orbit eight hours and 54 minutes after launch, but communications from the satellite were lost shortly after separation from the launch vehicle.
