Success of the 1,695th launch of Soyuz

Success of the 1695th launch of Soyuz

Evry, April 15, 2005

The 1695th flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle was performed Friday, April 15,
2005 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:46 a.m. Baikonur time
(2:46 a.m., in Paris).

Starsem, Arianespace and their Russian partners report that the Soyuz TMA-6
manned transport spacecraft was accurately placed on the target orbit for
another mission to the ISS.

This was the second Soyuz family mission in 2005. Last year, Soyuz was
launched 9 times with 100% success. Twelve Soyuz flights are planned for
2005.

Soyuz sustained launch rate confirms its position as one of the world's
primary launch vehicles. This rate also demonstrates Samara Space Center's
continuous production capacity, as well as the operational capability of
launch teams at Baikonur under the authority of the Russian Federal Space
Agency.

With the introduction of the Soyuz at the Guiana Space Center (CSG), this
famed Russian launch vehicle becomes an integral part of the European
launcher fleet, together with the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and the lightweight
Vega. To be offered exclusively by Arianespace to the commercial market, the
Soyuz at CSG is Europe's reference medium-class launch vehicle for
governmental and commercial missions.

Starsem is the Soyuz Company, bringing together all key players involved in
the production, operation and international commercial marketing of the
world's most versatile launch vehicle. Shareholders in Starsem are
Arianespace, EADS, the Russian Federal Space Agency and the Samara Space
Center.

The Starsem manifest for Soyuz missions currently includes contracted
launches for the European Space Agency, Eumetsat and PanAmSat.


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info