Kedr also known as ARISSat 1 and RadioSkaf-2, is an amateur radio

Amateur radio

Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...

 minisatellite

Miniaturized satellite

Miniaturized satellites or small satellites are artificial satellites of unusually low weights and small sizes, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as small satellites, different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass .One reason for miniaturizing...

 operated by RKK Energia as part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station is a project sponsored by various entities and carried out by astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station who also have an amateur radio license. The program was previously called SAREX, the Space Amateur Radio Experiment, and...

 and RadioSkaf programmes. A follow-up to the SuitSat

SuitSat

SuitSat is a retired Russian Orlan spacesuit with a radio transmitter mounted on its helmet. SuitSat-1 was deployed in an ephemeral orbit around the Earth on February 3, 2006...

 spacecraft, Kedr was launched to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Vostok 1

Vostok 1

Vostok 1 was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961. The flight took Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut from the Soviet Union, into space. The flight marked the first time that a human entered outer...

 mission.

Kedr will transmit 25 greetings in 15 different languages. It will also transmit photos of the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

, telemetry and scientific data. It will transmit voice, telemetry and slow-scan television

Slow-scan television

Slow-scan television is a picture transmission method used mainly by amateur radio operators, to transmit and receive static pictures via radio in monochrome or color.A technical term for SSTV is narrowband television...

 data on a frequency of 145.950 MHz. The satellite is also intended for use in educational programmes. Kedr is a 30 kilograms (66.1 lb) satellite measuring 55 centimetres (21.7 in) by 55 centimetres (21.7 in) by 40 centimetres (15.7 in). It carries solar cell

Solar cell

A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....

s to generate power, and is expected to operate for six months.

For launch, Kedr was stored aboard the Progress M-09M

Progress M-09M

Progress M-09M , identified by NASA as Progress 41 or 41P, is a Progress spacecraft which was launched in 2011 to resupply the International Space Station. It was the ninth Progress-M 11F615A60 spacecraft to be launched, and has the serial number 409. The spacecraft was manufactured by RKK Energia,...

 spacecraft, which was launched to resupply the International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

. Progress M-09M was launched atop a Soyuz-U

Soyuz-U

The Soyuz-U launch vehicle is an improved version of the original Soyuz LV. Soyuz-U is part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress Factory in Samara, Russia....

 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5

Gagarin's Start

Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency....

 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome

Baikonur Cosmodrome

The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...

 at 01:31:39 UTC on 28 January 2011. It docked with the International Space Station at 02:39 UTC on 30 January.

Kedr was deployed from the ISS by a cosmonaut during an extra-vehicular activity

Extra-vehicular activity

Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...

on 3 August 2011.