MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. The Soyuz 2.1 b rocket will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday. Together with the Fregat booster it will bring the Arktika-M Arctic monitoring satellite to the orbit. The start is scheduled for 09:55 am Moscow time. Bringing the spacecraft to the orbit will take more than two hours.

The minimum line up of the Arktika-M hydrometeorological space system should include two satellites. The devices will provide round-the-clock all-weather monitoring of the Earth's surface and the seas of the Arctic Ocean, as well as constant and reliable communication.

These satellites will be able to transmit overview images of the Earth’s northern polar region and the adjacent areas at least every 15-30 minutes.

Earlier, head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos Dmitry Rogozin said that his agency had agreed with Russia’s Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet) to explore the possibilities so that the first two Arktika-M satellites "should not become the sole space vehicles.".