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Russian defense ministry says its satellite put into designated orbit

"The blastoff, the flight and the orbiting went as planned," the ministry said in a statement

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket has successfully launched a satellite for the Russian defense ministry into its designated orbit, the ministry said.

The rocket lifted off at 8:59 p.m. Moscow time on Wednesday (5:59 p.m. GMT) from the Plesetsk space launch facility in northwestern Russia.

"The blastoff, the flight and the orbiting went as planned," the ministry said in a statement. "At the designated time, the spacecraft was placed into its target orbit and taken under the control of ground-based facilities of the Russian Aerospace Forces."

"Stable telemetry communication has been established and maintained with the spacecraft, while its onboard systems are functioning normally," the statement says.

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