Fregat Upper Stage Carrying Glonass-M Satellite Detaches From Carrier

The Fregat upper stage carrying the Glonass-M navigation satellite has successfully detached from the third stage of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The carrier rocket was launched from Russia’s Plesetsk space center earlier in the day.

"The upper composite of the middle class Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket, as part of the Fregat upper stage and the Glonass-M space apparatus has detached successfully from the rocket’s third stage at an estimated time of 11:54 a.m. Moscow time [08:54 GMT]," the ministry told RIA Novosti.

This was the third launch of the Soyuz-2.1 type carrier rocket from the Plesetsk space center in 2016.

It will take several hours for the rocket to reach its target orbit.