MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. The launch of Russia’s second Bion-M satellite to take a number of living organisms to space, scheduled for September, has been postponed until 2025, a source at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences has told TASS.
"The launch of the second Bion-M satellite will definitely not take place this year. The mission has been rescheduled to 2025," the source said.
The spacecraft, taking 75 mice and 1,500 drosophila flies, as well as plants and microorganisms to space, was initially planned to blast off on September 1, he added.
The Bion is a series of domestic satellites focused on biological research. In particular, scientists want to study the impact of cosmic radiation and zero gravity on living organisms. Mice are the main object of research under Bion-M projects. A Bion biosatellite is also intended for delivering flies, plants and microorganisms into orbit. The first similar spacecraft named Cosmos-605 was launched in 1973. In 2013, the first spacecraft of the Bion-M series was put into orbit. It delivered mice, Mongolian gerbils, geckos and various communities of microorganisms into outer space.