Space carrier missile "Dnepr-1" bearing 6 satellites to be launched on December 20

On Friday, December 20th, the space carrier missile "Dnepr-1" bearing 6 satellites will be launched from the space port Baikonur /Kazakhstan/. The calculations for the launch of the missile have been prepared by the testing department of the space port headed by Colonel Vyacheslav Danilchuk, the press-service of the Russian Space Forces disclosed yesterday. "The calculations have been made with the support of the experts from the state bureau "Yuzhnoye", factory "Yuzhmash" /Dnepropetrovsk/, KBSM /Saint Petersburg/", the press service reported.

The space carrier missile "Dnepr-1" was created on the basis of the liquid propellant intercontinental ballistic missile PC-20 /according to the NATO classification - SS-18, "Satan"/, and its reliability index is 0.97, the Space Forces reported.

The space carrier will settle into the orbit 5 small foreign space devices /SD/ weighing 10-15 kg for connection and scientific purposes. These are Italian, Argentinean /2 SD/, Saudi Arabian and German satellites.

Moreover, the space carrier will also launch a life-size mock-up "Trail Blazer", manufactured in Russia. The mock-up is aimed at the development of the method of orbiting heavy payloads. It is planned in the next year to settle into the flight orbit to the Moon a real large-sized SD by means of the space carrier missile "Dnepr-1", the Space Forces reported.