Soyuz booster carrying Glonass-M satellite blasts off from Plesetsk cosmodrome

The Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle carrying the Glonass-M navigation satellite has blasted off from Russia’s Plesetsk cosmodrome, TASS reported the Russian military as saying.

The Soyuz-2.1b middle-class carrier rocket was successfully launched by Russia’s Aerospace Forces from Plesetsk cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk Region at 06:23 GMT on Monday, according to the Defense Ministry.

All the pre-launch operations and the launch itself proceeded as planned. This is the first Soyuz-2 launch from Plesetsk cosmodrome in 2019.

Flight tests of the Soyuz-2 launch vehicles began at Plesetsk in the autumn of 2004. A total of 37 launches of the carrier rockets have been performed over the past 14 years.