Click to see full-size image. (Screengrab\Russian Ministry of Defense)
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on August 24 that its aerospace forces had successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying a spacecraft.
The launch took place at 5:40 a.m. Moscow time (0240 GMT) from the Defense Ministry’s Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region, the ministry said in a statement.
“The launch of the Soyuz-2.1b medium-class launch vehicle with a spacecraft was carried out in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry,” it added.
The launch was carried out by a combat crew of the Space Troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces, according to the ministry, which did not disclose the type or purpose of the spacecraft.
Arkhangelsk, located roughly 1,900 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, came under attack twice in the days leading up to the launch. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that it had repelled drone attacks targeting the region on August 22 and overnight into August 24. There were no reports of casualties or material damage.
Plesetsk may well have been the primary target of those failed Ukrainian drone attacks. The cosmodrome, Russia’s main military spaceport, is used to launch Rassvet-series satellites — part of a planned space-based internet network that has sparked concern in Kyiv. It also serves as a testing ground for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
This was not Ukraine’s first attempt to strike Arkhangelsk. In April, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Bakanov said drones had attempted to attack Plesetsk during previous satellite launches.
Russia has already carried out several successful launches of Soyuz-2 and Angara rockets carrying military satellites and batches of Rassvet communications satellites from the cosmodrome, with more launches likely planned for the rest of the year.
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