The Soyuz rocket launched at 02:18 (Moscow time) from the Vostochny Cosmodrome with two Ionosphera-M satellites to study the ionosphere and magnetic field, as well as 53 other small satellites.

In this case the Soyuz carrier ship used the powerful Fregat thruster, which allowed to carry the multiple payload to outer space.

Almost an hour after the launch, the two Ionosphera-M satellites, each weighing 430 kilograms, were placed in the intended orbit, then the maneuver began with the 53 small satellites.

Among the latter are 28 devices that completed the SITRO-AIS satellite system of the technology company Sputnixs for the location of ships.

Soyuz also put into orbit 16 satellites built by Russian students from various universities in the country, including Lomonosov State University in Moscow, Saransk Polytechnic, Sergei Koroliov University in Samara, St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, and Tomsk University.

In addition, the rocket put into orbit the Druzhba satellite, the first developed by students from the Amur State University (Russia) and the Harbin Polytechnic University (China) and the Octo-Pax space octopus, the first sculpture launched into space. Octo-Pax was created by Russian artist Nastia Miro to draw attention to the problem of space debris.

Roscosmos also reported that the Russian Soyuz rocket also carried into space two Iranian satellites, one of them from the private company Space Omid.

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