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Launch of Foton-M4 space research lab scheduled for May 2014

Currently, the satellite’s assembly is in the final phase

Archive photo of Soyuz-U carrying Foton-M ITAR-TASS/Sergei Kozak

Archive photo of Soyuz-U carrying Foton-M

© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Kozak

SAMARA, January 13. /ITAR-TASS/. The launch of the Foton-M4 research satellite is scheduled for May 2014, the press service of the Samara-based Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Centre (TsSKB-Progress) that developed the spacecraft, reported on Monday.

“Currently, the satellite’s assembly is at the final phase,” the centre added.

The launch of the Foton-M4 satellite had initially been planned for autumn 2013.

The Foton-M satellites are designed for research and experiments in the field of physics of weightlessness, space biology and biotechnology, including the study of biological samples in the open space. They are unique flying research laboratories in terms of providing special microgravity conditions.

In 2005, about 20 Russian and European research programmes were implemented on the Foton-M2 satellite.

During the flight of Foton-M3 in 2007, as many as 45 Russian and foreign scientific experiments were conducted on its board, including those involving gerbils, newts, geckos, snails and microorganisms.

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