Russia launches Soyuz-2.1 rocket with two Iranian satellites

RIA Novosti and Reuters reported the information.

According to Roscosmos, Russia's state corporation for space activities, the Soyuz-2.1 spacecraft, which launched from Russia's Vostochny cosmodrome, carried two Ionosphera-M satellites that will become part of the space system for monitoring the Earth's ionosphere. In addition, 53 small satellites were launched.

One Ionosphera-M satellite weighs 430 kg and has a working orbit of 820 km. The system will contain a total of four satellites, and Russia plans to launch the next two satellites in 2025.

Among the 53 small satellites are two Iranian satellites - Kowsar, a high-resolution image processing satellite, and Hodhod, a small communications satellite.

Russia also launched the first Russian-Chinese student satellite, Druzhba ATURK.

• Earlier, it was reported that Iran had sent two locally produced satellites to Russia: Moscow is to launch them into orbit with a Russian spacecraft.