The Ministry of Defense clarified that a stable telemetry connection has been established and maintained with the spacecraft
MOSCOW, February 5. /tass/. The spacecraft, launched in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry from the Plesetsk cosmodrome on Saturday, was taken over by ground-based VKS facilities. This was reported to journalists in the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
"The spacecraft, launched in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry by the combat crew of the Aerospace Forces from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region, was put into target orbit at the estimated time and taken over by the ground assets of the Aerospace Forces," the military department noted.
The Ministry of Defense clarified that a stable telemetry connection has been established and maintained with the spacecraft. "The onboard systems of the spacecraft are functioning normally," they stressed.
The spacecraft was assigned the serial number "Cosmos-2553".
"The Kosmos-2553 technological spacecraft is equipped with newly developed onboard instruments and systems for their testing under the influence of radiation and heavy charged particles," the ministry added.
Fregat upper stage
The Fregat upper stage, which is part of the Soyuz-2 launch vehicle.1a" put a spacecraft into orbit in the interests of the Russian military department, brought down from the target orbit, the department reported.
"After the launch into orbit of the Kosmos-2553 spacecraft, launched at 10:00 Moscow Time on February 5 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome by a medium-class Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket, specialists of the Main Test Space Center named after G.S. Titov conducted operations to remove the Fregat upper stage from orbit," the military department noted.
The Ministry of Defense explained that the removal of the upper stage was carried out by turning on the propulsion system to impart the impulses necessary for its information from the orbit of the spacecraft.
The launch of the Soyuz-2.1a space rocket was carried out on Saturday at 10:00 Moscow time by a combat crew of the Aerospace Forces from the State Test Cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Plesetsk Cosmodrome) in the Arkhangelsk region. This is the first launch of the Soyuz-2 rocket in 2022.
