Foton-M Research Satellite To Be Launched In Spring 2005

MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) – The Foton-M research satellite will be launched into space with a Soyuz launch vehicle in spring next year, a spokesman for the European Space Agency (ESA) told Interfax on Wednesday.

“The Foton-M satellite weighing some 6,000 kilos is designed for experiments in space technologies, the production of materials and biological preparations for different branches of industry and fields of science,” he said.

In keeping with a long-term international cooperation program, it will carry experimental equipment made under ESA auspices along with Russian instruments, the spokesman said.