Ukrainian satellite deployed into space on board U.S. Falcon 9 rocket

KYIV. Jan 13 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Sich-2-30 remote sensing satellite has been put into orbit for the first time over the past decade on board SpaceX's Falcon 9 medium-lift launch vehicle among a total of 105 spacecraft.

"A very important event happened today: Ukraine has had its Sich-2-30 satellite put into orbit," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram on Thursday.

"Today's successful launch has been the first deployment of a Ukrainian satellite into space over the past ten years," Zelensky said.

He said he is confident that thousands of Ukrainians watched the live broadcast of the launch.

"I also breathlessly followed online the Falcon 9 launch vehicle carrying our spacecraft lift off from Cape Canaveral in the U.S., then the first stage separated, and I could no longer contain my joy when it was clear that the launch passed successfully," Zelensky said.

The Falcon 9 with 105 satellites on board lifted off from Cape Canaveral as part of the Transporter 3 mission at 10:25 a.m. EST. on Thursday. The vehicle put into orbit 105 small satellites belonging to nearly 30 operators from some twenty countries, among them the Ukrainian satellite Sich-2-30.

Zelensky said that the Sich-2-30 remote sensing satellite was developed and manufactured by the Yuzhnoye (Pivdenne) State Design Office named after Mikhail Yangel, along with other Ukrainian enterprises.

"This is fully domestic technology," Zelensky said.

Ukrainian designers, engineers, IT specialists, and test specialists have proven yet again that they can build new types of modern spacecraft and establish Ukraine as a strong space power, he said.

"We have yet another successful example of productive cooperation of Ukrainian and American companies in the area of civilian space exploration," he said.