Russia to Launch New Spy Satellite in June

The Russian military will launch a new reconnaissance satellite from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia on June 8, a space industry source said.

"A Russian military satellite will be launched on board a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Plesetsk launch site on June 8," the source, who asked to remain anonymous, told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

According to previous reports, the satellite is the second in the new Persona series of electro-optical reconnaissance satellites based on the Resurs DK remote sensing satellite.

The first Persona satellite (Kosmos 2441) was launched onto a sun synchronous orbit in July 2008 but reportedly malfunctioned in February 2009 due to a failure in electronic components.

Russia operates a network of about 60-70 military reconnaissance satellites, featuring updated imaging technology and an extended lifetime of up to seven years, according to open sources.

Source: RIA Novosti