MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Russia’s second meteorological satellite Arktika-M, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle, has been successfully put into a designated orbit with a Fregat booster, Roscosmos said in a statement.

"The second Arktika-M is in orbit!" the space agency said.

The Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying the Arktika-M No. 2 satellite blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 12:18 p.m. Moscow time (9:18 a.m. GMT). About nine minutes after liftoff, the Fregat upper stage with the satellite separated from the rocket’s third stage.

The Arktika-M meteorological satellites were created on the Navigator platform made by the Lavochkin Design Bureau. The satellites will monitor the Earth surface and Arctic seas round-the-clock and in any weather and will provide constant and reliable communications. In addition, the satellites are capable of retransmitting signals from radio beacons of the international distress-alert detection system COSPAS-SARSAT.

The first Arktika-M satellite was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on February 28, 2021. The constellation was initially planned to consist of two Arktika-M satellites, but in December 2022, the Lavochkin Design Bureau said that it would be expanded to four spacecraft. The Arktika-M constellation is expected to be fully deployed by 2031.