Soyuz TMA-03M begins expedition 30 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko alongside Flight Engineers, André Kuipers (ESA) & Donald Pettit (NASA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on 1 July 2012, 08:14 UTC
Low Earth OrbitPléiades-HR 1A is the first of two high resolution Earth observation satellites designed by the French space agency (CNES) and manufactured by Astrium Satellites. The ELISA mission consists of four satellites manufactured by Astrium Satellites and Thales Systèmes Aéoroportés for the French space agency (CNES) and the French Directorate General of Armament (DGA). SSOT is an Earth observation satellite manufactured by Astrium Satellites for the Chilian armed forces.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitGlonass-M, also known as Uragan-M, are the second generation of Uragan satellite design used for GLONASS satellite navigation system. GLONASS is a Russian space-based navigation system comparable to the similar GPS and Galileo systems. This generation improves on accuracy, power consumption and design life. Each satellite weighs 1415 kg, is equipped with 12 L-band antennas, and has an operational lifetime of 7 years.
Medium Earth Orbit