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Successful Launch of Soyuz-2.1b. / November 19, 2015 /

On 17 November 2015 at 09:33 MSK, the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a military satellite was successfully launched from the State Testing Cosmodrome of Russian Defense Ministry (Plesetsk Cosmodrome), Launching Pad 43. The liftoff was made by the joint expert team of the ROSCOSMOS, Rocket & Space Industry, and Russian Defense Ministry.

The Soyuz-2.1b start and separation of the upper composite and spacecraft itself occurred as planned.

The spacecraft was placed into the target orbit by the Fregat upper stage.

Soyuz-2.1b manufactured by the TsSKB-Progress (Samara) is an upgraded version of the Soyuz-2 booster. As compared with the version 1a, it has the third stage engine with the improved power characteristics. Soyuz-2.1b has a higher launching accuracy, stability and controllability, and more increased payload mass than those of the previous version.

The Fregat upper stage developed by NPO Lavochkin is designed for launching different spacecraft as part of upgraded and existing carrier rockets. The upper stage enables the carrier rocket power and operation performance to be improved considerably. The Fregat upper stage is capable of inserting spacecraft into practically any desired orbit round the Earth and interplanetary trajectories as well.

ROSCOSMOS Press Service

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