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SMOS at a glance An Earth ExplorerMapping soil moisture and ocean salinityImproving our understanding of the water cycleIntroducing a novel use of technologyFacts and figures About the satellite About the launch SMOS in orbit Meet the team Multimedia Image galleryVideosAnimationsOnline resourcesServices
| | | | | | | | | Artist's impression of SMOS launch | |
Launch site
SMOS will be launched by a Rockot vehicle from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Proba-2, one of the smallest satellites ever built by ESA, will piggyback its way into orbit on the same rocket.
Situated in the Archangel region of Russia at 62° 54' North and 40° 23' East, Plesetsk is Russia’s most northerly rocket base, used to place mainly military satellites into polar orbits, and the only orbital launch site located within European territory.
Surrounded by Taiga forest on the eastern banks of the Yemsta River, Plesetsk was founded as the world’s first operational intercontinental ballistic missile base.
| | | View of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome |
At the end of the 1950s, four launch complexes were built there for the Semyorka R-7 launcher that continues today as the Soyuz manned vehicle.
In the early 1960s Russia needed a launch site that could reach militarily useful polar orbits inaccessible from Russia’s main site at Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
The job of selecting a site for a northern cosmodrome began in early 1962. At the end of that year, Plesetsk was selected and on 2 January 1963 Plesetsk was made a cosmodrome by Presidential decree.
| | Rockot launch tower before GOCE liftoff | |
Until 1983, the very existence of Plesetsk was a state secret, but after the end of the Cold War it was opened up for commercial launch services. Today, Soyuz, Cosmos-3M, Rockot and Tsyklon vehicles are flown from Plesetsk.
ESA’s Earth Explorer gravity mission, GOCE, was launched from Plesetsk in March 2009.
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| | In depth Proba missionsPlesetskRockotRelated links EurockotEurockot in Plesetsk
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