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| | ESA Portal - New Soyuz model successfully launched |
 | | The Soyuz launcher, an offspring of the R-7 ballistic missile, is the most used and the most reliable launcher in the world, with some 1700 launches of satellites or manned flights since the first Sputnik was put into orbit in 1957 and since the first man, Yuri Gagarin, was sent into space in 1961. |
 | | From Kourou, Soyuz launchers will be able to launch up to 2.5 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), thus complementing the launcher family formed by Ariane 5, which provides heavy lift capacity of up to 10 tonnes to GTO, and Vega, for light launches to low Earth orbits. |
 | | Soyuz launchers will be processed horizontally and erected on the pad some 18 hours before liftoff. |
| www.esa.int /esaCP/SEMTE91A90E_index_3.html |
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