MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. The space troops of Russia’s Aerospace Forces have conducted a successful launch of a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Plesetsk space center in northwestern Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service said.

"At 22:50 Moscow time on Friday, June 25, an operational unit of the Space Forces of the Russian Aerospace Forces has launched a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a new-generation spacecraft for the Russian Defense Ministry from Pad 43/4 of the Russian Defense Ministry’s State Test Cosmodrome Plesetsk in the Arkhangelsk Region," the ministry’s Department of Media Affairs and Information said.

According to the ministry, all pre-launch operations and the blastoff proceeded normally.

"The launch and flight of the carrier rocket were controlled by ground-based equipment of the Space Forces," the ministry said.

Shortly after, the ministry announced the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket had delivered the new-generation spacecraft into the designated orbit.

"The medium-lift Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket that was launched at 22:50 today, on June 25, from the Russian Defense Ministry’s State Test Cosmodrome Plesetsk in the Arkhangelsk Region, has successfully put into the designated orbit a spacecraft for the Russian Defense Ministry within the scheduled time," the ministry said.

Steady telemetry communication has been established with the spacecraft, and its on-board systems function well.

The spacecraft was placed under control of the ground services of the Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Center.

After being placed under control, the satellite was designated as Kosmos 2550

This is the second launch of the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket held from the Plesetsk spaceport this year. The previous one took place on February 2.

The Soyuz-2 flight tests at Plesetsk began on November 8, 2004. In the following 16 years, 46 rockets were launched from the Plesetsk space center, including medium-lift 1a and 1b versions, and the light version codenamed 1v.