Published: 14:18, December 29, 2025
Russia announces successful launch of 52 satellites into orbit
By Xinhua
In this grab from a live broadcast run by the Russian space agency Roscosmos on Dec 28, 2025, a Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a number of satellites blasts off from the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk, in the far eastern region of Amur. (PHOTO / AFP)

VLADIVOSTOK - Russia's space agency Roscosmos announced on Monday that it has successfully launched 52 satellites on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket into their planned orbits in space.

The Soyuz rocket launch was conducted on Sunday afternoon at the Vostochny Cosmodrome facility in Russia's far eastern Amur Oblast, Roscosmos said on its Telegram channel. The rocket delivered into orbit two Aist-2T and 50 other satellites, a process lasting about 5 hours.

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The spacecrafts are designed to operate actively in orbit for a minimum of five years. Their uses range from remote sensing of the Earth, electromagnetic radiation research, monitoring global shipping, to receiving signals from Internet of Things transmitters.

Roscosmos noted that the Aist-2T satellites are expected to take 3D images of the Earth, which will enable scientists to create accurate digital 3D models of landscapes and more effectively monitor fires, floods, and other emergencies on the planet.