MOSCOW, December 22 (RIA Novosti) - Under a cooperation program between Roskosmos (Russian Space Agency) and Ukrainian National Space Agency, Mission Control Center in the Moscow region is completing preparations for the launch of a Sich-1M satellite.
A Cyclone-3 rocket carrying the satellite is planned to be launched on Friday, December 24, at 2:20pm Moscow time from Plesetsk space center, a spokesman for Mission Control Center told RIA Novosti.
The Sich-1M was manufactured by Yangel Design Bureau Yuzhnoye (Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine) in cooperation with design and research institutions in Russia and Ukraine. The satellite will monitor the earth in infrared and microwave bands for economic purposes and be used in ionosphere and magnetosphere experiments.
At the initial stage, the launch vehicle will be controlled from Mission Control Center, and then from the National Center for Controlling and Testing Space Vehicles in Yevpatoria (autonomous republic Crimea, Ukraine).
