MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has issued a resolution permitting the Russian defense ministry to use space systems to launch five German and four US satellites as a payload during blasting off Russian Kanopus No3 and Kanopus No4 satellites from the Far Eastern Vostochny space center. The relevant resolution was posted on Thursday on the legal information portal.

The resolution allows the defense ministry to use on a contract-basis military-oriented space systems and complexes to launch from the Vostochny spaceport a Soyuz-2 carrier rocket with a Fregat booster and Russian Kanopus-B No3 and No4 remote sensing satellites, as well as a payload of four German S-NET, one German D-Star One and four US LEMUR satellites.

Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said earlier that the first launch from the Vostochny space center is planned for February 1, 2018, when a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with Russian Kanopus-B No3 and No4 remote sensing satellites will be blasted off.

Their launch was initially planned for December 22, 2017 but was postponed due to an abortive launch on November 28. After a routine start, contact with the Fregat booster carrying 19 communications satellites, namely a three-tonne Russian Meteor-M No2-1 weather satellite and 18 small satellites from various countries, including ten US’ LEMURs and German D-Star Ones, was lost when they were put into the interim orbit.