Molniya-Mとは 意味・読み方・使い方

The Molniya-M (Russian: Молния, meaning "lightning"), designation 8K78M, was a Russian (previously Soviet) carrier rocket derived from the R-7 Semyorka ICBM. First launched in 1964, it had replaced its predecessor, Molniya, by the end of 1965. It made 297 launches and experienced 21 failures, the last of which occurred on 21 June 2005 when a third stage malfunction prevented its payload, a Molniya-3K communications satellite from reaching orbit. The final flight of a Molniya-M was conducted on 30 September 2010. It will be replaced by the Soyuz-2/Fregat.