The launch of the second of four Russian Blagovest military satellites is planned for April after it was delayed in December, the satellite’s developer said on Wednesday.
“The customer has drawn up a schedule of launches and we are following it. The satellite is ready from December for its delivery. We are preparing for the launch in April” from the Baikonur space center in southern Kazakhstan, Tass quoted Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev CEO Nikolai Testoyedov as saying.
The exact delivery date has yet to be approved by a government commission, he said.
Russia successfully launched the first Blagovest high-capacity military communications satellite aboard a Proton-M rocket in August. The launch of the second satellite was planned for December 25 but delayed due to a technical issue, according to ISS-Reshetnev.
The Blagovest series is based on ISS Reshetnev’s Ekspress-2000 satellite bus. According to the company, they are designed for domestic consumer communications use, including high-speed internet, phone and television access.
The Russian Ministry of Defence plans to put four of the satellites into orbit by 2020.