Russian Soyuz Rocket Pre-launch: Multi-Satellite Mission | Vostochny Cosmodrome

Russian Soyuz Rocket Pre-launch: Multi-Satellite Mission | Vostochny Cosmodrome

Roscosmos completed assembly and encapsulation of the payload section for the Aist-2T imaging satellite, along with a cluster of secondary payloads, including an Iranian satellite(s) (center) and multiple cubesats (left) ahead of a late December 2025 launch.

A Russian Soyuz-2-1b/Fregat rocket, scheduled to deliver a pair of Aist-2T Earth Observation satellites and 50 ridesharing payloads, including a trio of Iranian satellites, is vertical at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Oblast. The launch is scheduled for no earlier than December 28, 2025.

The Vostochny Cosmodrome is a Russian space launch facility in the Amur Oblast, located above the 51st parallel north in the Russian Far East. It was built to help reduce Russia’s reliance on the Baikonur Cosmodrome located on land the Russian government leases from Kazakhstan. The civilian launch facility is operated by Roscosmos, the state corporation responsible for space flights. The facility was established in August 2011 and saw its first launch on April 28, 2016.

The dual-purpose Aist-2T satellite with a mass of 670 kilograms, was developed at RKTs Progress in Samara under a 2019 contract with the Roskosmos State Corporation that ordered a two-spacecraft system producing stereo-imaging of the Earth surface from a Sun-synchronous orbit. The Aist-2T satellite was reported to be capable of capturing images with a resolution as high as 1.6 meters, when photographing in nadir (directly below its flight path) in pan-chromatic mode. In the same imaging mode, it could also produce stereo images with a resolution up to 1.9 meters. Multi-spectral and color imagery was reported to be possible with a resolution of 4.8 meters when pointing in nadir or up to 5.9 meters for stereo sets of photos.

The Aist-2T variant also featured a built-in propulsion system for the first time, while the satellite's downlink channel for sending imaging data back to Earth was expanded from 150 megabits per second on Aist-2D to 1,600 megabits per second on the 2T version.

Image Credit: Artyom Pylayev
Acknowledgement: Katya Pavlushchenko
Release Date: Dec. 26, 2025

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