Russia's space exploration continues

Now as most of you are aware Russia has a long and distinguished history in space exploration and research, from the launch of the world's first ever satellite Sputnik back in 1957 to then in the early 1960's sending Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova into space as the first man and woman to do so and then in the 1970's launching a number of successful space stations particularly the Mir station with preceeded the current International Space Station.
So Today I want to talk about how Russia  is continuing its space research and exploration missions  as     On 5 November, the Soyuz-2.1 rocket took off from the new Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East of the country with for Russia was a record number of satellites on board. All of the satellites successfully entered their designated orbits. This significant launch will enable Russian scientists to resume their research into the iono-sphere, which was previously inaccessible due to technical limitations. The last domestic devices for analysing this layer of the atmosphere were used on the Mir orbital station, which was decommissioned ,came back to earth and sunk in the Pacific Ocean in 2001.
The iono-sphere is a region of the Earth's atmosphere located between 50 and 2,000 kilometers above sea level. It contains not only neutral atoms and molecules but also charged particles, including ions and electrons,that are  formed under the influence of ultraviolet and X-ray radiation from the Sun. The iono sphere's ability to conduct electric current and reflect or distort radio signals, as well as influence geomagnetic activity (including the formation of magnetic storms and polar lights), makes it a crucial area of study. Gaining a deeper understanding of this layer of the atmosphere will enable more effective control over radio engineering systems (radar, radio communications and radio navigation) and may even facilitate the prediction of earthquakes. The hypothesis of Russian physicist Yuri Kalinin, which suggests that anomalies in the ionosphere occur on the eve of the strongest fluctuations, has been increasingly confirmed in recent years.
Now before I continue I would like to make an appeal,if you like and enjoy my videos you can help me fund the channel and my websited sco brics insight .com and to further develop it. You can do this by making a small donation which you can do by clicking on the thanks button at the bottom of the video screen. Everybody who donates does get a personal thank you from me.

Studying the iono sphere is a challenging endeavour. It can only be accessed through the use of satellites equipped with iono-sondes, which are devices for measuring the parameters of space plasma, the primary type of matter in the universe. Ionosondes emit short radio pulses across a wide range of particles and record reflected signals. They are utilised to ascertain the concentration of particles in the iono sphere, their composition and temperature, as well as indicators of electromagnetic fields and wave radiation.
The first satellite to study iono sondes were launched in the 1960s as a joint initiative between the United States and Canada. In 1978, Japan launched its inaugural iono sphere probe into space, followed by the USSR the following year. Subsequently, a further Soviet and Russian probe was launched. The latter took measurements from the Mir orbital station, which was manned at the time, at ultra-low altitudes and was the first to detect denser regions in the ionosphere with diameters of 1,000–2,000 kilometres. The formation of the 'disk' over the Alpine Fault, which runs the length of New Zealand's South Island, has been linked by scientific papers to a magnitude 7 earthquake in the area in 1999.

Following the disposal of Mir, Russian scientists promptly initiated the development of new devices for ionosphere research. However, the project was only finalised at the end of 2016, when Roscosmos entered into a contract with VNIIEM to create a space system for monitoring the helio-geophysical situation, with a budget of 6.582 billion rubles.

The inaugural Iono sphera-M probes, Nos. 1 and 2, were launched into space last week. The satellites were launched into orbit at an altitude of 820 kilometres using the Soyuz-2.1 rocket. The equipment installed on the probes will comprehensively probe the planet's iono sphere, including the study of physical processes in plasma, the structure and dynamics of the iono sphere, measurement of the spectra of hard X-ray and gamma radiation of the Earth's atmosphere, and recording of the distribution of ozone. The Russian Academy of Sciences plans to utilise the data to conduct ground-space experiments to study the iono sphere's response to natural phenomena such as hurricanes, volcanic activity, earthquakes and other events.
The rocket also transported 53 additional satellites t as a secondary payload, which were successfully detached from the booster and entered the designated orbit. This achievement represents a new Russian record for the simultaneous launch of satellites.

The majority of these devices are small, assembled by scientific and student teams from Russian institutes and universities. Among the satellites is the SamSat-Ionosphere cubesat, developed by the A. V. Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Samara National Research University named after Academician S. P. Korolev. Its purpose is to measure plasma density.

A number of satellites have been developed in collaboration with international partners. These include the Russian-Chinese Druzhba ATURK apparatus, which features a high-resolution camera developed by the Harbin Polytechnic Institute, and the Foton-Amur module, which was created by young scientists from the Amur State University. The domestic development is testing a new material for photo-electric converters, which will help reduce the cost of solar panels based on gallium arsenide compounds used in space today. Dmitry Fomin, Director of the K. E. Tsiolkovsky Scientific and Educational Center of the Amur State University, states that if the experiment is successful, there will be a notable reduction in the cost of satellite production.

The Soyuz also transported the Zimbabwean satellite ZimSat-2, developed in collaboration with experts from the Kursk South-West State University, with the objective of conducting remote sensing of the Earth. A week prior to this momentous occasion for the African continent, Niger entered into an agreement with Roscosmos regarding the future launch of three satellites.

Furthermore, Iran's hod hod for the Internet of Things and Kosar for geodesy have also been successfully launched into orbit. Both satellites were developed by private companies, as reported by Iranian news agencies.
In 2025, the programme will see the launch of two further probes into sun-synchronous orbit. Ionosfera-M No. 3 and No. 4, developed by VNIIEM with instruments from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. These satellites will complete the ionosphere research satellite group.

Over the next six years, Russia plans to launch at least nine more spacecraft,whch  include missions to explore the Moon and Venus.