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Impact locations of four fragments of carrier rocket from Vostochny registered in Yakutia

Fragments have been spotted in the impact location in the Vilyuisk district

YAKUTSK, November 30. /TASS/. Radars in Russia’s Siberian republic of Yakutia have registered impact locations of four fragments of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket that was launched from the Vostochny spaceport on Tuesday, the press service of Yakutia’s environmental protection ministry said on Thursday.

"Four fragments of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket have been spotted in the impact location in the Vilyuisk district. Radars registered four fragments of the carrier rocket in the center of the RP 985 impact location," the press service cited the ministry’s lead specialist, Vladislav Ushnitsky, as saying.

According to the ministry, specialists will survey the area by helicopter and will collect samples on Thursday. Fragments of the rocket’s stages will be recovered after an environmental monitoring. "In case they are spotted in hard-to-reach areas, it will be necessary to prepare a pad for helicopter landing," the ministry added.

A Soyuz-2.1b space rocket blasted off from Vostochny at 08:41 Moscow time with a payload of 19 satellites. The weather-watching satellite Meteor-M N. 2-1 constituted the bulk of the payload. Roscosmos then said that the Fregat booster and the satellites had been delivered to an intermediate orbit. A short while later the corporation said the satellite could not be found where expected and no contact with it could be established.

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