The debut of the Soyuz 2-1b launch vehicle was flown by the European Space Agency's COROT spacecraft
The European Space Agency's COROT space telescope was launched as part of the maiden launch of the Soyuz 2-1b launcher on Wednesday this week. The launch vehicle took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday at 14:23 GMT. The upper stage of the missile, a Fregate model, successfully placed the satellite in its final orbit about 50 minutes later.
The new Soyuz 2-1b launcher contains several improvements compared to its predecessors, including a more powerful engine for the third stage and a digital control system. This will be the model that will be used for the Soyuz launches from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana.
COROT - acronym for "Convection Rotation and Planetary Transits" is equipped with powerful instruments that will allow it to accurately measure the brightness of stars, and locate acoustic waves that cross their surface, as well as help the telescope locate planets outside the solar system. The telescope is supposed to monitor about 120 stars and look for small changes in their brightness resulting from the passage of a planet across them.
