FOTON M-3

FOTON M-3 is no longer on orbit
FOTON M-3 is classified as:

Space & Earth Science

NORAD ID: 32058

Int'l Code: 2007-040A

Launch date: September 14, 2007
Source: Commonwealth of Independent States (former USSR) (CIS)
Launch site: TYURATAM MISSILE AND SPACE COMPLEX (TTMTR)
Decay date: 2007-09-26

Russia launched a recoverable capsule crammed with more than 1,300 pounds of international scientific and engineering test experiments on Friday to begin a 12-day excursion in space. The Foton M3 capsule, loaded with an array of Russian and European payloads, was launched at 1100 GMT (7:00 a.m. EDT) aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Less than nine minutes later, the 14,000-pound spacecraft separated from the Soyuz upper stage and entered an orbit nearly 200 miles above Earth. The capsule will complete about 190 orbits of Earth before it fires retrorockets to slow the craft for re-entry. A 5,500-pound return capsule will parachute to a landing along the Russia-Kazakhstan border Sept. 26. Experiments inside the spacecraft will largely focus on technology demonstrations, biology investigations, material sciences, fluid physics, and the exposure of materials to the harsh environment of space