The Russian Aerospace Forces (RAF) has deployed a new military satellite into orbit, the country’s defense ministry has stated. The device was propelled into space by a Soyuz-2.1b rocket, military officials said.
“On December 27 at 10:03 am combat crews of the RAF space forces conducted a launch of a light-class Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a space device in the interest of the Russian Defense Ministry, from the state testing cosmodrome of the Russian Defense Ministry in Arkhangelsk region (Plesetsk),” the defense ministry said in a statement.
The blast-off and the rocket’s voyage to its intended orbit had gone off without a hitch, military officials reported, adding that the whole process was monitored by an automated ground-control complex.
“A stable telemetry link has been established and maintained with the spacecraft,” the ministry said, noting that onboard systems were operating normally.
Late last month, the ministry said it had carried out a similar launch, also involving a Soyuz-2.1b rocket launched from the same location. In late October, a similar rocket conveyed several other military devices into orbit.
The exact number of devices deployed, their purposes or their capabilities have not been disclosed relating to any of the launches.
According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos, a total of 67 launches of Soyuz-2.1b rockets were carried out between December 27, 2006 and November 25, 2023, with some 577 devices delivered into orbit or further into space over that period.