At the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Roscosmos specialists have assembled a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the helio-geophysical spacecraft «Ionosphere-M» No. 1 and No. 2 and 53 Russian and foreign small piggyback satellites. It will be transported and installed at the launch complex on Saturday, November 2.
The launch of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat upper stage, the Ionosphere-M spacecraft No. 1 and No. 2, and 53 Russian and foreign small piggyback satellites is scheduled for November 5 at 02:18:40 Moscow time. The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket was manufactured by the Rocket and Space Center «Progress», the Fregat upper stage by the Lavochkin Scientific and Production Association, and the Ionosphere-M satellites No. 1 and No. 2 by the VNIIEM Corporation (part of Roscosmos).
The Ionosphere-M satellites are designed to observe physical phenomena occurring in the Earth's ionosphere as a result of active natural and anthropogenic influences, changes in the spatio-temporal structure of the ionosphere, disturbances in electromagnetic fields, the composition of the Earth's atmosphere, and the distribution of ozone in its upper layers, and to monitor the radiation environment. They will become part of Russia's first space system «Ionozond» for monitoring the helio-geophysical environment, or the so-called «space weather» around the Earth.
Two more spacecraft — «Ionosphere-M» No. 3 and No. 4 — are scheduled to be launched into orbit in 2025.
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