The launch of 24 payloads was successfully performed by the Dnepr Launch Vehicle, an RS-20 rocket, from Yasny Launch Base, Orenburg region, Russia, on Nov. 21, 2013, at 07:10:11 UTC.
The launch was executed by the Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Ministry of Defense with the support of the Russian and Ukrainian companies that are part of the International Space Company (ISC) Kosmotras industrial team.
The Dnepr Space Launch System (SLS) for commercial orbital launches of payloads uses components from former SS-18 inter-continental ballistic missiles.
According to the Russian Int'l Space Company, ISC Kosmotras, all payloads have been inserted into their target orbits. Among the spacecraft launched are:
- DubaiSat-2, the second Earth observation satellite launched into space by the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST). According to EIAST, the United Arab Emirates engineers at the ground station were able to communicate directly with the 300kg satellite, which entered orbit 15 minutes and 33 seconds after its launch, and accurately determine its path. The spacecraft is designed to provide electro-optical imagery with a spatial resolution of 1m (panchromatic) from an orbit of 600km altitude.
- BPA-3, the advanced avionics unit three of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, an experimental instrument designed for applications in navigation systems of civilian aircraft, spacecraft, and launch vehicles.
- STSAT-3, a 170kg spacecraft of the Aerospace Research Institute of Korea (KARI), Republic of Korea, is designed for astronomical observation and Earth imaging for environmental research.
- SkySat-1, a 90kg satellite from Skybox Imaging Inc. USA, that will provide commercial earth imaging in the 1m to 4m resolution range.
- UniSat-5, from the Group of Astrodynamics for the Use of Space Systems, Italy, a 31kg spacecraft carrying four CubeSats and four PocketCubes to be deployed a month after launch.
- AprizeSat-7, -8, each with a mass of 14kg, from SpaceQuest USA, communication satellites designed for transmitting and receiving short data packages from fixed and mobile assets and to track the location of ships at sea.
- WNISAT-1 and BRITE-PL, both sponsored by the Space Flight Laboratory, Institute of Aerospace Exploration at Toronto University, Canada. The former is to monitor Arctic Sea ice conditions and CO2 in the atmosphere; the second is to study oscillations in the light intensity of stars brighter than magnitude +3.5.
- Innovative Space Logistics BV, the Netherlands, is using nine ISIPOD systems designed by ISIS, Netherlands, to deploy 14 CubeSats for various international clients. The CubeSats are civil, scientific, and educational satellites intended to test equipment in space conditions. Measuring 8.35cm x 4.95cm x 1.55cm (3.3" x 1.9" x 0.6") and with a mass of 97g (3.4oz), the PocketCube Pocket-PUCP is the smallest functional satellite ever launched.
Source: Kosmotras