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BLAGOVESHCHENSK, Russia — The construction of Russia’s newest space launch facility, the Vostochny Cosmodrome, was inevitable from the moment the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.
After leading the charge into space, post-Soviet Russia found itself suddenly without a major spaceport on its territory.

San Francisco-based Planet has traveled the world researching and booking launches for its Dove, SkySat and RapidEye Earth-imaging spacecraft, a 150-member network that is currently the world’s largest satellite constellation.

CARBONDALE, Colorado – Russia’s Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat rocket gave fresh proof of its viability for the fast-growing cubesat market on Dec. 27 with the launch of 26 ride-share satellites into two separate orbits from Russia’s new, commercially oriented Vostochny Cosmodrome. All 28 satellites were reported healthy in orbit and sending signals.

VOSTOCHNY COSMODROME, Russia—A Russian Soyuz-2 rocket lifted off from here in the Russian Far East on Dec. 27, marking the country’s 17th launch of the year and the commercial debut of the government’s new Soyuz-2 launch services division, GK Launch Services.

South Africans celebrated the success of Thursday’s launch of ZACube-2, a two-year project to put its second nanosatellite into orbit with the main purpose of using automatic identification of ships (AIS) technology to monitor its waters.

VOSTOCHNY COSMODROME—A Russian Soyuz-2 rocket, outfitted with a Fregat upper stage, was being prepared for launch from here in the Russian Far East on Dec. 27, marking the country’s 17th launch of the year, placing it behind China and the U.S. in annual number of orbital launches.

VOSTOCHNY COSMODROME, Russia — With an exasperated hiss and engulfing roar, the sounds of a Soyuz rocket pierced the wild, windswept expanse of Russia’s far eastern taiga in a dramatic signal that Russia’s newest cosmodrome has finally opened for business.

PARIS — GK Launch Services as formed in 2017 following a Russian government decision to confer to it all commercial Soyuz missions. The company had an obvious advantage against other new launch companies in that it’s selling the well-proven Soyuz-Fregat rocket.

In Spring 2017 Glavkosmos, a leading company representing the interests of the Russian space industry on the international market, announced the creation of an operator of commercial launches called GK Launch Services, which will utilize the Soyuz-2 rocket launched from Russian-based cosmodromes.

Ninety-eight percent of satellite industry representatives attending the 3rd Annual SmallSat Symposium in the Silicon Valley, USA, are unanimous in their view that launch services continue to be an obstacle for the small satellite market growth.