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Russian cosmonauts to launch record number of satellites during upcoming spacewalk

According to Oleg Artemyev, at the moment the plan is to launch six satellites at first, and another four during the next spacewalk

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, June 9. /TASS/. Russian cosmonauts may set a record in terms of the number of small satellites launched during one spacewalk, TASS special correspondent, Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, has reported.

At the moment the plan is to launch six satellites at first, and another four during the next spacewalk, he said, adding though that specialists are developing the possibility to launch ten satellites at once to enable them to "communicate" with each other.

Earlier Artemyev said six small satellites would be launched as part of the RadioSkaf experiment from the International Space Station during one of the upcoming Russian spacewalks. Six YuZGU-55 nano satellites developed by the Southwestern State University (YuZGU) Research Institute of Instrumentation and Radioelectronics were brought to the orbital station by the Progress MS-19 space freighter in February. In June four more satellites, two YuZGU-55s and two Tsyolkovsky-Ryazans, were delivered to the ISS.

On November 17, 2021, TASS and Russia’s Roscosmos State Space Agency signed a memorandum of cooperation stipulating the establishment of a TASS news office onboard the International Space Station. Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev is currently in charge of the office. Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, whose mission lasted 12 days, was the first TASS special correspondent in space.