Russia is planning to launch two space laboratories within the next four years, a space company said on Thursday.
An x-ray observatory, Spektr-RG, will be launched in 2013, the Central Scientific Research Institute of Machine Manufacturing said.
It will study the large scale structure of the universe and super-massive black holes, among other things.
Spektr-UF, a UV space observatory, to be launched in 2016, will be an international project with Russian, Spanish, German and Ukrainian participants.
It is designed to study the universe in the ultraviolet spectrum, which is out of reach to ground based instruments.
