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Eight OneWeb satellites separate from Fregat booster

The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with 36 OneWeb satelliltes was launched on Friday

MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Eight OneWeb telecoms satellites, launched atop the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket on Friday, successfully separated from the Fregat upper stage, Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos said.

"The first group of four OneWeb satellites separated from the Fregat booster," Roscosmos said in a Twitter post.

Later, the corporation’s Director General Dmitry Rogozin said another group of four satellites had separated as well.

The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with 36 OneWeb satelliltes was launched from the Vostochny space center in Russia’s Far Eastern Amur region at 20:38 Moscow time on Friday. The satellites will separate in several stages, with the entire process taking 3 hours and 51 minutes.

This was the seventh launch of OneWeb satellites and the fourth purely commercial launch from Vostochny. With these satellites in orbit, the OneWeb constellation will reach 218.

The launch was initially scheduled for May 27 but was postponed to a later date due to minor problems detected by automatic sensors. Later, Arianespace, the launch operator, said the carrier rocket’s electrical equipment needed to be replaced before the launch.

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

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North Korea conducts new anti-aircraft missile test — KCNA

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KazMunayGas, Sibur, Sinopec sign protocol on plant construction in Kazakhstan

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