Vladivostok, July 25 -- Russia successfully launched 20 satellites into space on Friday, including an Iranian telecommunications satellite, the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos announced.
A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East at 8:54 Moscow time (0554 GMT), Roscosmos said on its website.
The primary payload of the mission was the Ionosfera-M satellites No. 3 and No. 4, designed to study physical processes in the Earth's ionosphere caused by both natural and human-induced factors. These include changes in the ionosphere's spatial and temporal structure, electromagnetic field disturbances, the composition of the upper atmosphere, and ozone distribution. The satellites will also he...