Soyuz launches cluster of 28 satellites

A Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East at 0207 GMT Thursday (9:07 p.m. EST Wednesday) carrying 28 satellites, including a pair of Russian mapping satellites and secondary payloads from Germany, Japan, Spain South Africa, and a dozen Earth-observing CubeSats and eight commercial weather payloads for Planet and Spire. The Kanopus-V 5 and 6 Earth observation satellites will assist the Russian government in disaster response, mapping and forest fire detection. They were the biggest payloads on the Soyuz-2.1a booster, and were be joined by 26 other spacecraft under a rideshare arrangement booked by Glavkosmos, a company that sells Russian launch services on the global commercial market. More

(Source: SpacaFlight Now - Dec 27)