MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Spacecraft launched in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry have been placed on their target orbit following the launch of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket and placed under the control of the Aerospace Forces’ Space Troops, the Defense Ministry reported.

The ministry reported earlier on Friday that a combat team of the Aerospace Forces’ Space Troops had successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with military satellites from the Plesetsk spaceport at 2:17 a.m. Moscow time (11:17 p.m. GMT, Thursday).

"At the estimated time, the spacecraft were put into the target orbit and placed under control of ground-based assets of the Aerospace Forces’ Space Troops. Stable telemetry communication with the spacecraft has been established and maintained, and their onboard systems are functioning normally," the statement noted. It said that the carrier rocket’s launch and the satellites' insertion into their target orbit proceeded as planned. Following the launch, the Soyuz-2.1b rocket was tracked by the ground-based automated control system of the German Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Center.

The Defense Ministry noted that students from the Sevastopol branch of the Nakhimov Naval School, the Nakhimov Naval School’s Mariupol branch named after twice Hero of Russia Major General M.E. Gudkov, and the cadet corps (engineer school) of the Zhukovsky - Gagarin Air Force Academy (Voronezh) all watched the launch.

The students conducted a tour of memorable places of the city of Mirny as part of the organized visit, including the lane of the spaceport’s outstanding commanders. Servicemen from the State Test Cosmodrome of the Russian Defense Ministry took the young guests on a tour of the assembly and testing building, launch complex, and technical area of the Angara heavy lift launch vehicle.