 Artwork featured on visitors' brochures | |
| Soyuz-ST-B launch | |
|---|---|
| Launch | 4 April 2019, 17:03:37 UTC |
| Operator | Arianespace |
| Pad | Kourou ELS |
| Payload | O3b × 4 |
| Outcome | Success |
| Arianespace Soyuz launches | |
Soyuz flight VS22 (French: Soyuz vol VS22) was a rocket launch conducted by multinational launch service provider Arianespace. It was the sixteenth launch of a Soyuz-ST-B launch vehicle, and the 22nd launch of a Soyuz-2 series launch vehicle from the Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz at the Guiana Space Centre. After two scheduling delays and a 33-minute logistical delay, the rocket lifted off on 4 April 2019, and successfully delivered to medium Earth orbit the final four satellites in the O3b broadband satellite constellation, which services Latin America, Africa, and Oceania. After four previous Soyuz flights delivered the constellation's first sixteen satellites, the launch increased the constellation's throughput by 26 per cent. The flight marked the second occasion in which two Soyuz-2 launch vehicles were launched on the same day, occurring hours after the launch of Progress MS-11 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.