Skolkovo to launch its first research satellites in October

Skolkovo, the international tech hub under completion on the outskirts of Moscow, is preparing to expand beyond planet Earth this autumn with its subsidiary, the Skolkovo Orbital Launch Centre (SOLC), set to send satellites into space.

“Our first launches are planned for October this year,” said Alexei Belyakov, head of Skolkovo Foundation’s space and telecommunications technologies cluster. “We are launching four spacecraft in October: three foreign satellites and one Russian one made by the Moscow Aviation Institute” (MAI).

He said the satellite designed by the MAI was intended for scientific research activity and was equipped with devices for testing the atmosphere. The others were made by European and American universities.