Moscow, Russia – Roscosmos, Russia`s state space corporation, is preparing for another busy period at its Vostochny Cosmodrome. The corporation has announced plans to launch a batch of 18 satellites during the third quarter of 2025 from the sprawling facility in Russia`s Far East. This mission underscores the ongoing activity at Vostochny and Russia`s continued participation in the commercial small satellite market.
The announced payload primarily comprises Russian-made spacecraft. According to details provided by the Roscosmos press service, 17 of the satellites are commercial smallsats, specifically designed in the CubeSat format. These tiny workhorses, often no bigger than a shoebox (depending on their configuration), are slated for various domestic customers, indicating a healthy, or at least active, internal demand for space-based services and technology demonstrations.
Interestingly, the manifest for this upcoming launch also includes one small spacecraft on behalf of a foreign client. In an era where international collaboration in space can feel… complicated, securing even a single foreign commercial payload suggests that some avenues for global space business remain open. It seems gravity and orbital mechanics are perhaps less concerned with geopolitics than terrestrial affairs.
Specifics were provided for a few notable passengers. Among the Russian contingent are two 3U CubeSats developed by the Geoscan group, which will carry payloads from Gonets, a company within the Roscosmos structure. Their mission? To test packet data transmission technologies – essentially, ensuring that small, dedicated satellites can efficiently send and receive bursts of data from orbit. Also included is `InnoSat16,` a larger 16U CubeSat focused on Earth remote sensing, presumably to keep an eye on things down here, though exactly what things wasn`t specified. Details on the other satellites were, as is often the case, kept under wraps for now.
The technical and logistical heavy lifting for this multi-satellite deployment falls to Glavkosmos. Acting as the lead integrator for these co-passenger payloads, Glavkosmos, another entity part of the Roscosmos ecosystem, is responsible for ensuring all 18 satellites are safely accommodated and deployed correctly from the launch vehicle. It`s a bit like organizing a high-stakes, very expensive group trip to space, making sure everyone has their ticket and knows where to sit (or, more accurately, where and when to be released into orbit).
The planned third-quarter 2025 launch from Vostochny highlights the cosmodrome`s increasing operational tempo and Roscosmos`s continued focus on utilizing its launch capabilities for both state and commercial purposes, catering to the growing demand for small satellite services worldwide – or at least, where contracts can still be signed.
