The SSETI Express satellite, along with seven other companions, were successfully delivered into space on Thursday. The Kosmos-3M rocket carrying them blasted off from the Russian launch site in Plesetsk.
The launcher successfully took off at 0652 GMT, carrying a Russian military Mozhayets-5 satellite and Iran鈥檚 first satellite called Sina-1. It is described as being for telecommunications and research.
In July, former Iranian deputy communications minister Hassan Shafti said three satellites would be launched over the next three years.
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Also on board the rocket were China鈥檚 DMC satellite, Norway鈥檚 NCube, Germany鈥檚 UVE-1 and Japan鈥檚 XI-V.
The final instrument was a UK micro-satellite called Topsat, designed to provide 2.5 metre resolution imagery of Earth at much lower cost than larger satellites.
