MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. The launch of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with Ionosfera-M satellites №3 and №4, and 18 Russian-and foreign-made satellites is scheduled for Friday morning from the Vostochny space launch facility in Russia’s Far East.

The blastoff will take place at 8:54 a.m. Moscow time (5:54 a.m. GMT). Approximately nine and a half minutes after the takeoff, the upper stage with the Fregat booster will separate from the rocket’s third stage.

Ionosfera-M satellites are part of a constellation that is being built to monitor the Earth’s ionosphere and the Sun, among other things. For example, they will help study the distribution of ozone in the upper atmosphere and monitor radiation levels.

The constellation will include a total of four Ionosfera-M satellites. The first pair of satellites was launched on November 5, 2024.

Along with Ionosfera-M, the carrier rocket will orbit 18 small satellites, including Nahid-2 - a telecommunications satellite manufactured by the Iranian space research center.

The payload also includes nine small Geoskana spacecraft. They will make photographs, track down aircraft and vessels and study space processes.