Gonets- satellite were the civilian derivate of the military Strela-3 satellite system. The Gonets system was offered to support international health organizations to meet their global communications needs for the transfer of medical data and records to remote sites. Strela-3 was second generation of strategic store-dump military communications satellite. Development of this generation to replace the first generation Strela-1M and Strela-2M satellites began in 1973.
Low Earth OrbitHALCA (Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communication and Astronomy), a.k.a. VSOP (Very Large Baseline Interferometry Space Observatory Programme) or Muses-B, is the first astronomical satellite dedicated to Very-Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). It was launched on its maiden flight by ISAS's M-5 [KM-V1] launch vehicle from Kagoshima Space Center on 12 February 1997.
Elliptical OrbitSTS-82 was the 22nd flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery and the 82nd mission of the Space Shuttle program. It was NASA's second mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, during which Discovery's crew repaired and upgraded the telescope's scientific instruments, increasing its research capabilities and achieved the highest altitude ever attained by a STS Orbiter (335-nautical-mile (620 km)).
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TM-25 was the 30th mission and the 23rd long-duration expedition to Mir space station. It was also a part of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program. The mission began on February 10, 1997, 14:09:30 UTC, launching Commander Vasili Tsibliyev, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Lazutkin and Research Cosmonaut Reinhold Ewald into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed an EVA and various scientific experiments in medicine, biotechnology, Earth sciences etc. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, STS-84, and welcomed aboard Soyuz TM-26 with the next expedition crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on August 14, 1997, 12:17:10 UTC.
Low Earth Orbit