Russia has successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome to deploy 19 satellites into orbit, most notably the country's upgraded Meteor M2-1 weather satellite. The 2.75-tonne observatory will measure humidity and temperature in the Earth's atmosphere, while scanners and cameras will capture images of cloud and ice cover, and infrared spectrometry will measure the ozone layer. The Meteor M2-1 is also the first Russian weather satellite to able to use CubeSat network to receive emergency distress beacons. The other 18 payloads come from countries such as the US, Canada, Japan and Germany.
Russia has successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome to deploy 19 satellites into orbit, most notably the country's upgraded Meteor M2-1 weather satellite. The 2.75-tonne observatory will measure humidity and temperature in the Earth's atmosphere, while scanners and cameras will capture images of cloud and ice cover, and infrared spectrometry will measure the ozone layer. The Meteor M2-1 is also the first Russian weather satellite to able to use the International Cospas-Sarsat network to receive emergency distress beacons. The other 18 payloads come from countries such as the US, Canada, Japan and Germany.