MAER conducted a live broadcast of the launch of the Victory Rocket

On April 8, at 8:47 Moscow time, a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with a Soyuz MS-27 manned spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The MAER media holding conducted a broadcast of the launch. Roscosmos dedicated this launch to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

The emblem of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory and the logos of launch partners, including the MAER media holding, were applied to the rocket body. The launch of the ship was supervised by the head of the corporation Dmitry Bakanov.

"The crew is international, cross-flights are continuing: two Russian cosmonauts, one American. This shows that technology and functional tasks do not depend on politics, and we are happy to continue cooperation between Roscosmos and NASA," said Dmitry Bakanov, head of Roscosmos.

The flight to the ISS followed a two-turn approach pattern, and the spacecraft docked at the Berth module of the Russian segment of the station at 11:58 a.m. The upcoming expedition will last 245 days.

On the eve of the launch, the MAER showed unique footage of the training process at the Cosmonaut Training Center on outdoor screens for several days. A few minutes before the launch, the announcing videos were replaced by footage from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The large-scale broadcast was seen by more than 2.5 million viewers across Russia. In total, taking into account the announcements and repeats, about 20 million people will learn about the launch. The launch was broadcast on 250 digital platforms, including outdoor media facades in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Kazan, Novosibirsk and other cities.

"Today is a historic moment — the Victory Rocket has been launched. And we broadcast it on all major media facades and media screens from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. We are making space closer and more accessible to everyone. Today, millions of people across Russia have learned about the cosmonauts and watched this launch live. Behind such big events is the work of thousands of specialists. Our Russian technologies allow us to broadcast the video signal, transferring it to the streets of Russia's largest cities. By showing launches, we inspire a new generation. We are proud of our good cooperation and friendship with Roscosmos. We will continue to make space more accessible for everyone as part of our social information project," said Konstantin Mayor, Founder and CEO of the MAER media holding.

The astronauts will replace the crew of the previous mission on board the ISS. Russians Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner, as well as NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, will return to Earth. They arrived at the station on the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft in September 2024 and will leave it on April 20, 2025, the day of the 70th anniversary of Pettit, who is the oldest active NASA astronaut. Together with them, the flag of the MAER media holding will return, which went there as part of cooperation with Roscosmos and has been on board the ISS for over 200 days.