MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2020) The launch of Russia's first Arktika-M satellite for monitoring the Arctic climate and environment has been delayed until December 24, a space industry source told Sputnik.
"The launch of the first Arktika-M was put off until December 24," the source said.
A spokesperson of Russian space agency Roscosmos told Sputnik that "the exact date [of the launch] will be set later."
In February, a space industry source told Sputnik that the launch of the first Arktika-M satellite from the Baikonur space center was planned for December 9, 2020. According to the source, the satellite will be launched using a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat booster.
In May, General Director of the Lavochkin aerospace company Vladimir Kolmykov told Sputnik that the first Arktika-M spacecraft was undergoing radio-electronic testing and its launch was planned for the end of 2020.
According to Kolmykov, the second Arktika-M satellite is still under development and will be launched in 2023.
Russia's Arktika-M remote-sensing and emergency communications satellites will gather meteorological data in the polar regions of the Earth, which will allow to improve weather forecasts and will enable scientists to better study climate change.
