A small satellite, the first of its kind jointly developed by Chinese and Russian universities, was launched on Tuesday morning from Blagoveshchensk, Russia, according to the Harbin Institute of Technology in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, the satellite’s developer.

The CubeSat, a small satellite weighing about 15.7 kilograms, will be used to verify small nanosatellite technology, amateur radio experiments and space science education.

The mini-satellite project aims to integrate the higher education resources of the two countries and promote cultural exchanges between the youth of the two sides. Chinese and Russian universities, including Harbin Institute of Technology, Nanjing University of Aviation and Space Science, Amur State University and Bauman Moscow State Technical University, participated in the project.