Moscow State University plans to launch space observatory to search for exoplanets

MOSCOW. April 18 (Interfax) - Moscow State University plans to build its own cluster of Sozvezdiye-270 small satellites and launch an orbital observatory to search for exoplanets, the university rector Viktor Sadovnichy said.

"Work is being done as part of the construction of a Russian orbital service station. From our first satellite [launched] in 2005, the Moscow University is switching to preparations for deploying its own Sozvezdiye-270 constellation of small spacecraft," Sadovnichy said at a forum of the heads of Russian and Vietnamese universities on Thursday.

Moscow State University also plans to launch its first orbital observatory to search for exoplanets within the next ten years, he said.