According to Roscosmos, the 3 Gonets-M satellites and the Skif-2 satellite are already in orbit.

The space agency Roscosmos specified that this is the first launch of a carrier rocket of the Soyuz-2 group, loaded with a new ecological fuel called naphthyl. It is a hydrocarbon-based fuel with polymer additives that will increase the payload carried into space and reduce harmful emissions.

Likewise, the Skif-D demonstration satellite is designed to work on new technical solutions for high-speed Internet access and the protection of the orbital frequency resource. Meanwhile, the Gonets-M satellites serve to organize mobile satellite communication, collect and transmit data from industrial and ecological monitoring sensors, as well as determine the location of moving objects.

The Sfera program is a global multifunctional communication system, announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018. It involves the launch of hundreds of communications and remote sensing satellites. Thus, within the framework of the project, 5 fleets of satellites will be launched that will provide telecommunications services, and another 5 that will provide surveillance services.

By 2030, 638 satellites are expected to be launched into orbit, including 334 communications, 249 remote sensing and 55 navigation.

Roscosmos indicated that the total weight of the four satellites carried by Soyuz-2.1b is equivalent to one ton, reports the Interfax agency.

(Taken from RT in Spanish)

In this April 3, 2012 photo, a model of North Korea's Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite, which was launched in April 2009, hangs on the ceiling of a school space observatory in Samjiyon, North Korea. Engineers are pumping fuel into a rocket that is set to carry a satellite into space, officials at the North Korean space agency's central command center said Wednesday, showing reporters a live feed of the west coast launch pad. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Pyongyang, Apr 9 (Prensa Latina) Representatives of international media organizations are arriving in this capital to cover the launch of a satellite to observe the Earth on the 100th birthday of the founding father of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Il Sung.

Invited by the North Korean Space Technology Committee, reporters from the news agency AP and the U.S. TV chains CNN and NBC, as well as the first TV channel, NTV, and Russia’s Zvezda, have arrived in Pyongyang by plane or train, it was reported here.

Other reporters who arrived here over the weekend were those from Kyodo and the Japanese chain NHK, AFP and the French newspaper Le Monde, as well as the news agencies Reuters and BBC, from Great Britain, and ARD TV, from Germany.

The list of international news organizations present in Pyongyang to cover the satellite launch also includes reporters from Sweden, Switzerland, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa and Brazil (the newspaper of the state of Sao Paulo), according to the North Korean news agency KCNA.

Kim Il Sung’s 100th birthday will be celebrated on April 15 and the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite will be launched between April 12 and 16.