Russian scientists have successfully launched a new satellite, which is supposed to become the ''brightest star in the night sky'', reports Mirror. The spacecraft named Mayak is the result of a $30,000 crowdfunding campaign by the Moscow State University of Mechanical Engineering (also known as Moscow Polytech). The project's team has released an Android app allowing to track the progress of Mayak across the sky.

Mayak was launched aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan on 14 July and entered orbit at 12.10 p.m. In the next few days, after all the necessary checks and preparations, the satellite will deploy its reflective Mylar sheet, which is twenty times thinner than a human hair. Read more below.