Proton-M with Elektro-L No. 5 lifts off from Baikonur: onboard is the SKIF-VE instrument developed by Moscow State University

⚡️ Today at 11:52 AM Moscow time, a Proton-M launch vehicle carrying a DM-03 upper stage and the Elektro-L No. 5 hydrometeorological satellite lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Onboard the spacecraft is the SKIF-VE instrument (a space radiation spectrometer), developed with the participation of staff from the Radiation Monitoring Laboratory at the Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Its mission is to measure particle fluxes in the Earth’s radiation belts and detect solar cosmic rays.
Protons and electrons at various energies, their angular distributions, and temporal variations — all of this data is essential for analyzing radiation conditions and forecasting “space weather.”

The instrument is capable of detecting particles across a wide energy range: protons from 2 to 160 MeV, electrons from 0.15 to 10 MeV, as well as low-energy particles in the range of 0.05–20 keV.

The continuous monitoring data that SKIF-VE will collect will help refine models of near-Earth radiation and verify empirical calculations. An important mission — in safe hands.

Image credit: Roscosmos State Corporation Telegram channel