Bion-M No.2

Bion-M No.2 was a Russian space mission and spacecraft of the Bion programme, which is devoted to space medicine. This second generation Bion-M continued the biological research of the earlier craft in the series, Bion-M No.1, launched in 2013, and the Bion-M spacecraft are designed to carry biological, physiological and biotechnological experiments to low Earth orbit and return them to Earth at the end of the mission. The satellite combined parts of two long-standing Soviet spy satellite families: its landing unit came from the Zenit 2M satellite and it carried an instrument section developed for the Yantar satellite. It was made by TsSKB Progress of Samara. A Soyuz-2.1b rocket launched it from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 20 August 2025 with 75 mice and 1,500 flies on board. The capsule landed in the steppes of the Orenburg region on 19 September 2025 after 30 days in orbit, and ten mice did not survive the flight.