Foton (Photon)

Foton (or Photon) is the project name of two series of Russian science satellite and reentry vehicle programs.

Created: 2023-02-04

Updated: 2023-02-18

Company - Foton (Photon)

Founded
Country: 1941; Russia

Funding: Yes, ?

Product/Service - Foton

Classification: Cargo Transportation & Landers

Category: Microgravity Flight Service (LEO)
Transport Service (Re-Entry)

Fields: Automated Microgravity Laboratory
Space Capsule

Status: Retired

First launch: 1985

Although uncrewed, the design was adapted from the crewed Vostok spacecraft capsule. The primary focus of the Foton project is materials science research, but some missions have also carried experiments for other fields of research including biology. The original Foton series included 12 launches from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome from 1985 to 1999.

The second series, under the name Foton-M, incorporates many design improvements over the original Foton. So far, there have been four launch attempts of the Foton from 2002 to 2014.

It was developed by Progress Rocket Space Centre, previously called TsSKB-Progress.

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