MOSCOW, July 25. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a pair of Ionosfera-M heliogeophysical satellites and 18 other satellites as a hosted payload lifted off from the Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East, the State Space Corporation Roscosmos said in a live broadcast on Friday.

In about nine minutes after the liftoff, the front part of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket consisting of a Fregat booster, two Ionosfera-M heliogeophysical satellites and 18 small satellites separated from the rocket’s upper stage.

The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket blasted off from the Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East at 8:54 a.m. Moscow time (5:54 a.m. GMT). It will take the booster about an hour to deliver a pair of Ionosfera No. 3 and Ionosfera No. 4 heliogeophysical satellites into orbit. After that, it will deliver 18 small satellites, including the Iranian Nahid 2 telecommunications space vehicle manufactured by Iran’s Space Research Center into the designated orbits.

The satellites that will be delivered into the designated orbits include nine small space vehicles based on the Geoscan platform. They will make images of the Earth, track the location of aircraft and vessels and study space processes. Several satellites will be used to study the space-Earth radio link and participate in experiments for control of small satellites in the low-Earth orbit.