Russia Launches Soyuz Rockets With Dozens Of Satellites Including 2 From Iran

UNSPLASH/NASA ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Russia launched a Soyuz rocket carrying two satellites to monitor space weather around Earth and 53 small satellites, including two Iranian-owned satellites.

Russian space agency Roscosmos explained the launch of the Soyuz-2.1 spacecraft, which took off from Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome, carrying two Ionospheric-M satellites, which will be part of the space system to monitor the Earth's ionosphere.

The ionosphere, a meeting place for Earth's atmosphere with space, stretches roughly 50 to 400 miles (80 to 644 km) above Earth's surface, according to information on NASA's website.

Each Ionospheric-M satellite weighs 430 kg and its working orbit is at an altitude of 820 km (510 miles), according to the Interfax news agency reported by Reuters, Tuesday, November 5.

The system will cover a total of four Ionospheric-M satellites. The next two devices are scheduled to launch in 2025, Roscosmos reports.

Among the 53 small satellites, there are two Iranian satellites, KNOWrsar, high-resolution imaging satellites, and Hodhod, a small communication satellite, as well as Druzhba ATURK's first Russian-Chinese student satellite.

Russia in February launched an Iranian research satellite into space that will scan Iran's topography from orbit.