A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket, equipped with a Fregat booster, which is to put into orbit the Iranian satellite Khayyam and 16 small spacecraft, was launched on Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, according to a live broadcast on the Roscosmos YouTube channel.
Soon, the upper stage, consisting of the primary stage and satellites, will separate from the rocket's third stage. After that, the Fregat booster will fire its engines to deliver the satellite into orbit.
As Roscosmos reported earlier, 16 small satellites created by leading universities, commercial companies and non-commercial organizations will be launched as a passing load. In particular, small satellites CubeSX-HSE-2, Monitor-1, UTMN, CYCLOPS, Siren, KAI-1, Kuzbass-300, Skoltech-B1, Skoltech-B2, Polytech Universe-1, Polytech Universe-2, Vizard, Geoscan-Edelweis, MIET-AIS, ISOI and ReshUCube were launched into space.
The satellites were designed for scientific research, development of technologies of inter-satellite communication channels, measurement of electromagnetic emissions, remote sensing and environmental monitoring.
